Sensationalism Undermines Public Health, Journalists Warned

Gweru— Journalists have been urged to abandon sensationalism and prioritise accuracy, privacy, dignity and public interest when reporting on sensitive health and social issues, amid growing concerns over misinformation and the potential harm caused by irresponsible reporting.

Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) Secretary-General Perfect Hlongwane made the call on Wednesday during a virtual Merck Foundation Health Media Training that brought together journalists and health experts from across the world to strengthen responsible, evidence-based reporting on critical health and social issues.

Hlongwane said health journalism carried a unique responsibility because accurate reporting could save lives and improve public understanding, while careless reporting could expose private information, fuel fear, deepen discrimination and reinforce stigma.

“Health reporting can save lives,” Hlongwane said, warning that the same reporting could also expose private information and fuel fear, discrimination and stigma if handled irresponsibly.

The training addressed a range of sensitive issues, including infertility stigma, diabetes, hypertension, gender-based violence, child marriage, female genital mutilation, women's empowerment and girls' education.

Hlongwane said journalists should not treat media merely as a communication tool but should recognise their role as active participants in shaping public attitudes and social change.

He identified six key principles that should guide reporting on sensitive health matters, verification, privacy, informed consent, avoidance of stigma, accurate explanation of risk and placing public interest above sensationalism.

Hlongwane urged journalists to verify health information with qualified medical professionals, official health authorities and credible evidence before publication.

He said reporters should clearly distinguish between confirmed information, preliminary findings and rumours, particularly at a time when social media can rapidly amplify unverified claims.

Journalists, he said, should explain what is known, what remains uncertain and what members of the public can realistically do in response to a health threat.

He also called for errors to be corrected promptly and visibly.

“Do not repeat unverified claims,” he warned, particularly when dealing with viral information, alarming statistics or claims that could trigger panic in communities.

He said journalists should not promote so-called miracle cures, unproven theories or dramatic statistics simply because they were trending online.

Hlongwane said health reporting required heightened attention to confidentiality because seemingly harmless details could identify patients.

Names, photographs, locations, schools, workplaces and family information can sometimes expose an individual's identity even where the person's name has not been published, he said.

Journalists should therefore ask whether identifying a person is genuinely necessary in the public interest, Hlongwane said.

He cautioned against publishing medical records, test results, ward details or identifiable images merely to make a story more compelling.

The obligation, he said, was even greater when reporting on children and people living in small communities where individuals could easily be identified.

Hlongwane also challenged journalists to rethink how they obtain consent from vulnerable sources.

He said interviewees should understand who the journalist is, what the story is about, where it will be published and potentially how wide its audience could be.

Consent, he stressed, must be informed and voluntary rather than obtained through pressure.

Journalists should also avoid assuming that agreeing to an interview automatically gives permission for every photograph, quotation, video clip or social-media publication.

When children are involved, he said, journalists must follow applicable safeguarding and parental or guardian-consent requirements.

Hlongwane said the language used by journalists could either challenge or reinforce harmful social attitudes.

He urged media practitioners to avoid labels that define people by their medical conditions or imply that illness is the result of moral failure.

Instead, journalists should use respectful, person-centred language and focus on the condition without dehumanising the individual.

He also warned against humiliating labels, mockery and unnecessarily dramatic images or close-ups.
Report risk without creating panic

On health emergencies and chronic conditions, Hlongwane said journalists had a responsibility to explain risks accurately and provide context.

He said reporters should establish who is at risk, how large the risk is, what evidence supports the claim and what remains unknown.

Where possible, he encouraged journalists to use absolute numbers, explain percentages in plain language and identify the source of statistics.

He particularly cautioned against headlines that exaggerate health threats simply to attract clicks, readership or social-media engagement.

Such reporting, he said, can transform preliminary findings into apparently established medical facts and unnecessarily frighten communities.

The training's focus on infertility highlighted another dimension of responsible health journalism, the need to challenge stigma rather than reproduce it.