Mombasa Journalists Undergo Intense Training On Health Investigative Reporting

Over 20 journalists and media practitioners in Mombasa County took part in an intense four day investigative training on health reporting.

The training pioneered by Association of Media Women in Kenya (AMWIK) under the funding from USAID for a collaborative effort aimed at reducing fraud, waste, and abuse in the Kenyan health sector (USAWA) covered several areas including Fact Checking; Data Visualization from Government Accounts and Budgets (OAG, OCOB, Procurement); and Digital Content Creation.

Speaking during the training,  MCK Mombasa Regional Coordinator Maureen Mudi highlighted the pivotal role journalists play in keeping the public informed about health matters within the devolution framework.

Mudi also emphasized the need for local journalists to specialize in health reporting.

“As a journalist aiming to address critical health issues, it’s essential to understand the responsibilities of national and county governments taking into account the key health concerns in your region. Consider the cultural beliefs and biases within your communities”, she said.

Adding ” “We have realized that most journalists are yet to specialize in health reporting. “Journalist need to take up health stories very seriously as it affects them at a personal level, the Usawa training will act as an eye opener to more health stories as well as collaboration among stakeholders.” 

On her part  USAID- Usawa program coordinator, Lorna Sempele, revealed that hey aim to empower 50 journalists in 5 counties in Kenya to unearth the positive and negative stories on the health sector.

Sempele advised the journalists to adopt a media plan to consistently and sustainably report on health issues.

“This training is about capacity building for the journalists on investigative reporting. We found that our journalists need a lot of capacity building because Kenyans are facing a lot of challenges while accessing health services, but nobody is airing their grievances.” said Sempele.

Adding ““We can only create the desired change if we are deliberate in our reporting. Let’s focus on amplifying community voices.”