{"id":13493,"date":"2015-08-19T16:56:43","date_gmt":"2015-08-19T20:56:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ebola.local\/?p=13493"},"modified":"2021-11-11T15:15:38","modified_gmt":"2021-11-11T20:15:38","slug":"fighting-fear-and-stigma-with-accurate-ebola-information","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebolacommunicationnetwork.org\/fr\/fighting-fear-and-stigma-with-accurate-ebola-information\/","title":{"rendered":"Combattre la peur et la stigmatisation gr\u00e2ce \u00e0 des informations pr\u00e9cises sur Ebola"},"content":{"rendered":"

In July 2015, three months after the last person who had succumbed to the dreadful Ebola virus was buried, Liberians woke to the news that a 17-year old young man had died of the virus. Liberia was no longer considered Ebola-free.<\/p>\n

Franklin D. Roosevelt\u2019s words, \u201cThe only thing to fear is fear itself\u201d have stayed with me since the first news stories broke about the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, quickly followed by stories of chaos and fear. As someone who has worked with and in the media, I also know that lack of accurate information is a big driver of fear and trauma, which in turn can easily translate into stigma and a withholding of sympathy for those affected by the traumatic events, driven by a compulsion to exclude them as \u201cother.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been well documented that the Ebola crisis was in large part driven by misinformation in the early days of the outbreak. Rumors spread quickly, and massive blasts of communication, which although aimed at helping people understand the disease and how to deal with it, often ended up being contradictory and just plain confusing. Everyone knew that accurate Ebola information was critical. However, what was missed in the scramble to communicate, was listening to the people affected by the crisis. Simply booming messages at people affected by a crisis is bound to fail.<\/p>\n

Internews, a specialized partner of the Health Communication Capacity Collaborative (HC3), found more than \u201c300 types of social mobilization and messaging systems in the three worst-affected countries: Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.\u201d As the organization\u2019s Senior Director for Global Initiatives Alison Campbell described it: A \u201cchaotic information landscape [that] consisted mainly of information \u2018out\u2019 with little opportunity for community dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Internews has vast experience working in humanitarian disasters, so it was a natural fit to partner with HC3 already working in Liberia, to widen the approach to getting lifesaving messages to people knowing full well that in rapid onset epidemics, rumors can kill. Who better to target than local journalists deeply connected with their own communities? Whichever way you look at it, individuals need to know the facts and the science behind the disease they\u2019re covering in the media. Working with Liberian journalists was therefore key to Internews\u2019 approach to ensure people had access not only to a wide range of information from trusted sources, but also to channels for questioning and discussing that information.<\/p>\n

Alison summarized five takeaways earlier this year in an\u00a0article<\/a> that she thought the international development community should take to heart.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Form genuine partnerships with local media.<\/b><\/li>\n
  2. Build capacity rather than paying to disseminate prepared messages.<\/b><\/li>\n
  3. Deliver consistent messages and don\u2019t oversimplify.<\/b><\/li>\n
  4. Encourage two-way communication with community audiences.<\/b><\/li>\n
  5. Help local media realize their full potential as a platform for accountability.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Internews\u2019 health journalism advisor, Ida Jooste recently visited HC3 in Liberia. She spoke to me about how working with journalists can address the stigma related to Ebola. She also shared some insights into Internews\u2019 partnership with HC3, which showed that the commitment and community engagement has been sustained, despite the assumption that there may be Ebola fatigue or messaging fatigue. Community radio journalists have continued to be actively involved in Ebola-related programming in a way that shows \u201cthey care and are deeply committed to their communities,\u201d Ida noted. \u201cBy investing in groups and journalists who had already proactively taken leadership in the Ebola response, the HC3\/Internews team merely added a multiplier effect.\u201d<\/p>\n

    IDA:<\/strong>\u00a0Internews in Liberia provides training and follow-up mentoring to a select group of journalists, including from counties most affected by Ebola. These five-day training workshops provide journalists with resources and discussion points of the Ebola-related issues that dominate the news agenda in Liberia. Apart from the obvious joy of the country having been declared \u201cEbola free\u201d by the WHO on 9 May, the most pertinent discussions relate to:<\/em><\/p>\n