19 Sep 2013

It is important for members of the media and officials who give out information to strike a balance in respect of one another.

The United States-based Centre for Disease Control communcation specialist, Mr Daniel Rutz said this during a media workshop held for the Ministry of Health senior managers. He said a symbiotic relationship existed where officials and the media needed each other, hence the need for both parties to strike a balance.

The media, he said, can assisted an organisation to be efficient as the information it released could relieve stress among people and shed light on important issues about an organisation.

The information that reporters gave to the community could save lives and yet at the same time, it could scare people away and therefore it was important for journalists to be fair to both their news sources and audience. He emphasised the need to offer information to the media on time, adding that this does not only help media personalities to break the news, but also enables the public to be informed of situations on time.

“Journalists by their nature are the eyes and ears of the community, they are everywhere and always keep their ears on the ground and should therefore be offered timely responses,” he said. Mr Rutz said when the right information is given to journalists and published, many lives can be saved.

Such information could even assist in the country’s development. The most important thing to consider when responding to the media, Mr Rutz said, was to accept a mistake when it has happened, adding that this will build trust on sources.

He said acknowledging the good work that media personalities do is crucial as opposed to condemnation of their work at all times. For his part, Centre for Disease Control Botswana senior health communications officer, Mr Douglas Johnson advised the ministry to device a communication strategy. He said through a strategy, the ministry will be able to manage both negative and positive news.

He said it is also important for the ministry to find ways of communicating crises and always be ready to find ways of responding to such crises. Mr Johnson encouraged the ministry officials to take advantage of social media networks  such as facebook to reach the masses. Ministry of Health chief public relations officer, Ms Doreen Motshegwa said the workshop was meant to harness expertise to do things better and engage the media in a better way.

She said timely engagement of the media comes as vital to the ministry as it will lessen the burden of health workers as the media will avail information to the public. ENDS