Events

Internews Briefing:
Journalism for Better Public Health

Meet Internews Networks’ In-Country Advisors

Washington, DC Panelists:

San Francisco Panelists:

Local Voices is an Internews project that improves local reporting on public health issues in developing countries. Since 2003, nearly 1,000 journalists from eight countries – India, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Burma, Cambodia, Thailand and Viet Nam - have received training and long term mentoring, enabling them to produce quality stories on health and gender issues on air and in print.

People in many developing countries can’t depend on their local radio station or newspaper to provide factual, easily understandable information on basic health issues such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, TB, and infant and maternal health. Many local journalists lack the training or resources to cover health topics accurately and effectively, and many editors do not see health issues as sufficiently newsworthy. Internews has been addressing these gaps, and wants to share what we’ve learned with a select group of interested agencies, journalists, individuals and foundations in San Francisco.

About the Panelists:

Gloria Ardyth Coe, PhD, MPH, Communication Specialist, Bureau for Global Health, USAID

Gloria Ardyth Coe, who is providing introductory remarks at the Local Voices event, is Communication Specialist for the Bureau of Global Health at the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

Prior to her current position, Ms Coe was a regional advisor in health communication and health journalism for the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/World Health Organization (WHO). In that capacity, she coordinated preparation of the manual, Journalists and the Mass Media: Helping Infants and Children to Grow; implemented two multi-country comparative research protocols with the Latin American Federation of Faculties of Social Communication (FELAFACS) and others; helped develop a CD-ROM on health journalism; and coordinated with FELAFACS to define competencies of health journalists.

Jon Cohen, Senior Correspondent for Science Magazine

Jon Cohen is the lead evaluator of Internews’ Local Voices program. An award-winning journalist, he has covered infectious diseases for more than 20 years. His articles have appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Slate, Technology Review, The New Republic, The Washington Monthly, Talk, and Smithsonian. Cohen has specialized in HIV/AIDS, but has also reported on a range of topics such as global health, the vaccine industry, the National Institutes of Health, bioterrorism, reproductive biology, stem cell research, and the genomics revolution.

He has traveled extensively through the Americas, the Caribbean, Asia, and Africa. In 1998, he won the international health reporting award from the Pan American Health Organization for his article about an AIDS research program in the former Zaire. Cohen’s first book, Shots in the Dark: The Wayward Search for an AIDS Vaccine, was published in 2001 and won the Science and Society journalism award from the National Association of Science Writers.

His second book Coming to Term: Uncovering the Truth about Miscarriage was published in 2005. From 1986-1990, Cohen served as senior editor at the City Paper in Washington, D.C and he has been writing for Science since 1990. He earned a B.A. in 1981 from the University of California, San Diego, where he majored in science writing. Cohen is currently working on a book that examines the dividing line between humans, bonobos, and chimpanzees.

Laurie Zivetz, Ph.D, Internews Network Global Health Director

Over the course of her career, Dr. Laurie Zivetz has founded, managed, and advised NGOs and NGO programs in nearly three dozen countries in Asia and Africa.  From 1991 to 1996, Dr. Zivetz served as Country Director for CARE International in Vietnam, the Caucasus and the Philippines. Prior to joining Internews, a decade of consulting practice included leading and participating in a range of project evaluation and design efforts related to community health and family planning, forestry, gender, microfinance, and most recently Internews’ twin HIV/AIDS journalism programs: Local Voices and Turnaround Time.

Other consulting work included strategic plans and a major baseline study for the UK-based Campaign for Female Education (Camfed), preparation of a background note on health and security in Africa for the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, a case study on health programming in early recovery fragile states for USAID, as well as strategic planning, and organizational support for a range of agencies.  Dr. Zivetz was the senior technical advisor to the creation of the Technical Cooperation Network (TCNetwork), a branded network of health management consultants from Asia, Africa and Latin America. She holds an MPH and a PhD.

Mia Malan, Internews Network Senior Health Journalism Advisor

Mia Malan is the Senior Health Journalism Advisor for Internews Network. She has developed and implemented the Local Voices training curriculum and has edited two trainers’ manuals for the Local Voices project. Prior to this, she was the Resident Journalism Advisor for Internews Network’s Local Voices project in Nairobi, Kenya. During this time, Ms. Malan more than doubled donor support for the project and trained and mentored eighty journalists.

Before joining Internews Network, Ms. Malan was the national health correspondent of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (for radio and television). She has won numerous awards for health reporting, including the Henry J. Kaiser Award for Excellence in Health Journalism (1998), the CNN African Radio Journalist of the Year (2000) and the South Africa – USA Leadership Reporting Award for Television in 2001. Ms. Malan was selected as the Reuters Foundation’s Medical Journalism Fellow at Oxford University, Green College for the year of 2001.

She has covered health issues for various publications, including the Brown Journal of World Affairs and the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs. She has also participated as an international speaker at the World AIDS Conferences on HIV/AIDS in Bangkok (2004) and Toronto (2006) and Mexico (2008). Ms. Malan holds a Master's Degree (cum laude) in Science Journalism from the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. She is working toward her doctoral thesis in Media Studies at the University of Stellenbosch.

Jaya Shreedhar, M.D., Internews Resident Journalism Advisor, India

Dr. Jaya Shreedhar joined Internews Network in 2004 and manages the Local Voices India program. A medical doctor and an accomplished health journalist, she has covered HIV/AIDS and other health issues in Tamil and English languages for more than 15 years. As a journalism trainer for Local Voices, Dr. Shreedhar has trained print, radio and television journalists from developing and developed countries in reporting on HIV/AIDS and other health issues. In addition, she has served as a communications advisor and health consultant to UNAIDS (Geneva and India), UNDP, WHO, UNICEF, India’s National AIDS Control Organization, and various Indian state governments.

Prior to her work with Internews, Dr. Shreedhar was a Senior Writer for the External Relations Department of the Joint United Nations AIDS Program (UNAIDS), and served as Technical Director to the Government of Tamil Nadu’s Media Campaign for AIDS Control in the State, where she developed and implemented a strategic action plan for HIV advocacy through media. As a special correspondent for “Frontline Magazine,” Dr. Shreedhar reported on health and medicine in the form of in-depth analytical articles. In her role as a physician, Dr. Shreedhar treated patients in a pediatric multispecialty hospital. She has been the recipient of number of awards for excellence in health reporting, including the Gold Medal Award for Periodical Special Issues from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

Ida Jooste, Project Director, Local Voices Kenya

Ida Jooste joined Internews Network in 2006 and manages the Local Voices Kenya program. Prior to this, she worked as a radio and television journalist, producer, and news manager for the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), where she focused on political conflict reportage, regional conflict resolution efforts, and science and development issues. In 1996 she established KZN2Nite, SABC’s regional TV news program and was instrumental in establishing the SABC Africa newsroom.

As a journalist, Ms. Jooste’s stories typically champion the cause of rural people who show remarkable forbearance as the delivery of HIV/AIDS assistance rolls out more slowly to outlying areas. She is regularly invited to address journalists and academics on the importance of accurate, fair, and sensitive reportage of current issues as they affect ordinary people. Ms. Jooste was granted a research fellowship by the University of the Witwatersrand in acknowledgment of her expertise in the field of HIV/AIDS media depiction. She has also received national and international accolades for her broadcast work in the fields of science, politics, the environment, development and health, including the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association Rolls Royce Exceptional TV News Feature Award.

Sandy Ndonye, Internews Network in Kenya Media Coordinator

Sandra Ndonye manages Internews Kenya's Media Resource Center (MRC) and is also a Local Voices trainer. An alumnus of Internews' Local Voices Training program, Ms. Ndonye joined Internews in May 2004 after working for nearly five years as a radio and television journalist. Prior to her current position, she worked as a television anchor and producer of children's programs, and also hosted several programs, including a daily radio talk show featuring stories about HIV/AIDS on Metro TV and Metro FM, the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation's youth television and radio stations. Ms. Ndonye began her journalism career as a high school student where she founded the first journalism club and school newspaper at Kyeni Girls’ High School in 1995 in Embu, Kenya.

As a journalist, Ms. Ndonye is most interested in covering issues related to HIV/AIDS, children and youth, and the environment. She is an active member of the Association of Media Women in Kenya, and serves as a member of the board of governors. Ms. Ndonye holds a degree in Public Relations at the University of Nairobi and is currently pursuing further studies in Communications (with a focus on media) and Psychology at Daystar University.

Josephine Kamara, Resident Journalism Advisor, Internews Network in Nigeria

Josephine Kamara is a journalist with 12 years of international broadcasting, news media development and training experience. She is currently the Resident Journalism Advisor for Internews Network’s Local Voices Program in Abuja, Nigeria. Using a results-oriented approach, Ms. Kamara trains and mentors journalists to report on HIV/AIDS and other health issues, and engages media managers to ensure their commitment to broadcast and publish health and social sector issues pro bono. In addition, she trains civil society organizations working on health and social sector issues on effective communications through the media, and works with implementing partners to monitor the local media’s coverage of health issues.

Ms. Kamara began her career as a radio and television broadcaster in Sierra Leone. Prior to joining Internews in November 2005, Kamara worked for the Voice of America’s (VOA) Africa Division in radio and television. She was the producer of two VOA/TV programs: “Africa Journal” and “Healthy Living." Ms. Kamara started working for VOA radio in 1997, first as a reporter, stringer editor and host of “Africa World Tonight." She has both radio and TV digital editing skills. She has a degree in Linguistics and French.

Akubo Adegbe, Program Manager, Internews Nigeria

Akubo Adegbe is the Program Manager for Internews Nigeria. He manages finance and administration aspects of the program, and develops and monitors the project work plan. He supervises local staff and oversees the progress of Internews Nigeria’s implementing partners to ensure they meet targets set under Internews’ sub-grant program. As part of his finance and administrative responsibilities, Mr. Adegbe procures media equipment for the Media Resource Center and for journalists, manages employee benefits, and prepares project budgets.

Akubo Adegbe has over 8 years experience in banking, business development and NGO management. Prior to joining Internews, Mr. Adegbe worked as a banker with the premier commercial bank in Nigeria, First Bank of Nigeria PLC. In this role, he managed accounts, prepared financial reports, represented the bank in the clearing house, and worked in foreign operations, IT and customer service. Over the years, Mr. Adegbe has developed core skills in financial analysis, business development, project management, and monitoring and evaluation. He facilitates trainings in management, team dynamics, leadership, organizational development and conflict management. He has a BSc degree in Geography from the University of Jos (Nigeria), and an MSc in Instrumental Analytical Sciences from the Robert Gordon University (UK).

Sonya De Masi, Internews Resident Advisor, Ethiopia

Sonya De Masi is the Resident Journalism Advisor of Internews Network’s Local Voices program in Ethiopia. Since joining the program, Ms. De Masi has nurtured strong partnerships between Internews Ethiopia and both the Federal HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office (HAPCO) and the Ministry of Health. These partnerships have been instrumental in supporting sustained and appropriate media coverage of health issues in government priority areas.

Ms. De Masi joined Internews after working for the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) as a Radio Producer and team leader of the mission’s radio production unit. Previously, she worked with Internews in Sri Lanka managing a media project which provided access to resources and training for journalists. As Editor of Internews’ Burma project, she trained radio journalists, produced features for Voice of America and Radio Free Asia’s Burmese Services, and helped build the capacity of a community radio station which produced radio programs for refugee camps and IDP camps inside Burma. As Radio Editor of the Burma Project for the BBC World Service Trust, Ms. De Masi helped conceive, develop and establish a new program for the BBC Burmese Service. Prior to working in media development, Ms. De Masi was a senior journalist at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, where she was the producer of programs on current affairs in Asia and the Pacific regions. She is an award-winning journalist who has worked in radio and television for both of Australia’s national broadcasters since 1994. Sonya holds a Master's degree in Applied Communication from RMIT University in Melbourne.

Meron Seyoum, Project Coordinator, Internews Network in Ethiopia

Meron Seyoum is the Project Coordinator of Internews Network’s Ethiopia Project, and has been with the program since it was established in 2005. Ms. Seyoum has been responsible for establishing administrative systems in the office, and is the primary outreach person when planning journalism trainings, organizing site visits and facilitating contacts with a range of HIV/AIDS organizations and NGOs. Ms. Seyoum has increasingly become involved in training and often assists in workshops, helping to teach appropriate language and navigate the Amharic/English difference.

She also frequently volunteers to translate articles and materials for the office. She is the focal point for the project’s monitoring and evaluation activities. Tracking visits to the Local Voices Media Resource Center has meant that Ms. Seyoum is the primary contact for journalists in Addis Ababa and the regions.

Ms. Seyoum joined Internews from Africa’s regional satellite television network Multichoice Ethiopia (DSTV) where she was the Head of Customer Service. It is here that she most likely honed her inter-personal and organizational skills and learned to liaise with remote management. She had previously worked for the South Africa-based broadcaster in Customer Service before being promoted to manage the department. Ms. Seyoum is currently studying towards a Degree in Foreign Language and Literature (English) majoring in newspaper journalism.