1. Covering EbolaPaige Brown Jarreau, Guest Lecture
2. EbolaEbola: Basics About the
Diseasehttp://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43750.pdf
3. Ebola Outbreak 2014Ebola has been spreading since it was
first diagnosed in March 2014 in Guinea.More than two-thirds who
got the disease in this current outbreak in West Africadidnt
survive. Almost 4,500 have died so far. It is the deadliest
outbreak of Ebolain
history.http://theconversation.com/ebola-in-the-usa-dont-trust-what-you-read-on-twitter-33211The
disease was first identified in 1976, appearing simultaneously in
Sudan andthe Democratic Republic of Congo. Until now the number of
cases has been fairlylimited, but the fatality rates are high
anywhere from 25% to 90%; the averageis 50% depending on the strain
of virus and the care
received.http://journalistsresource.org/studies/society/public-health/ebola-virus-us-preparedness-review-research-perspectives#
4. Assessing theInternational SpreadingRisk Associated with
the2014 West African EbolaOutbreakSEPTEMBER 2, 2014the short-term
(3 and 6weeks) probability ofinternational spreadoutside the
Africanregion is small, but notnegligible. The extensionof the
outbreak is morelikely occurring in Africancountries, increasing
therisk of internationaldissemination on alonger time scale.
5. How ContagiousIs it Really?What to
knowhttp://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/10/02/352983774/no-seriously-how-contagious-is-ebola
Sick people become infectious themselves only when they begin to
showsymptoms. Disease transmission requires direct contact with an
infected personsbodily fluids, such as blood, vomit or semen.
(Extreme caution is warrantedbecause there is no vaccine for
Ebola). While Ebola virus is extremely dangerous, its transmission
rate is lower thanthat of many other diseases. As long as people
are under proper care and appropriate precautions aretaken, theres
no reason to think we cant control the transmission of thevirus -
Michael VanRooyen, Harvard Medical
Schoolhttp://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2014/08/understanding-ebola/.
6. 2014 Ebola Outbreak A CrisisWHO Director-General Margaret
Chan noted that this outbreak is a socialcrisis, a humanitarian
crisis, an economic crisis, and a threat to nationalsecurity well
beyond the outbreak zones.
7. Why is covering the current Ebola outbreak difficult?This
epidemic is showing how disease is a lotmore complicated than just
being a virus orbacteria or parasite, etc., that has to be
fought.Diseases need certain environmentalcircumstances to
thrivelike poverty in post-civilwar countries, which is of course
what we see inLiberia and Sierra Leone. But that then gets
intohistory, politics, and a lot of nuance, which is,frankly,
boring for anyone participating in the 24/7news cycle. Kelly Hills,
professional editor and writer in themedical sciences and
humanities
8. Why is covering the current Ebola outbreak
difficult?[I]nstead of a simple backbreaking poverty meansthat the
situation was prime for an epidemic to occur,because of limited
medical resources and almost no doctors,which is completely
opposite what y'all in the developedworld are accustomed to, people
go for the over-the-top (andwrong) depictions of Ebola that have
been perpetuatedby The Hot Zone and movies like Outbreak. And, of
course,focus on the few developed world doctors and nurses
whobecome sick because they're like rather than other. Kelly Hills,
professional editor and writer in the medicalsciences and
humanities
9. Sensationalism[I]n other words, oh my god is
Ebolamutating?!?! is the sort of clickbait that the24/7 news cycle
will flock to....if they could Buzzfeed the headline tosomething
like Ebola: What You Don't KnowWill Shock You or One Easy Trick
toStopping the Ebola Epidemic theywould/will. Kelly Hills,
professional editor and writer inthe medical sciences and
humanities
10. Ebola in
Americahttp://blogs.spjnetwork.org/ethics/2014/10/20/ebola-in-america/
11. Ethics of Reporting Ebola in U.S. While many people wave
off irresponsible journalism as the result ofthe digital world
hungry for constant content, reports that lead to morequestions
than answers may also lead to harm. the general U.S. publicfor the
most partonly know of Ebola virusdisease through the stories and
images they received in years pastfrom Africa. Journalists have the
responsibility to act and provideaccurate answers through thorough
reporting. Its not the job ofjournalists to drum up unwarranted
fear or concern. In addition to the wear and tear of general
anxiety, the potential harmof unchecked rumors and fear among the
general public can be seenin U.S. history books. Fear and
uncertainty over the transmission ofHIV in 1987 led to a ban on
people infected with the virus, whichcauses AIDS, from entering the
U.S. The ban stayed on the booksuntil 2009, a year after
then-President George W. Bush began therepeal
process.http://blogs.spjnetwork.org/ethics/2014/10/20/ebola-in-america/
12. Dont Trust TwitterIn the first two weeks of October,
therewere more than 18 million tweets with theword Ebola.Volume of
#Ebola tweets by country. Crimson
Hexagonhttp://theconversation.com/ebola-in-the-usa-dont-trust-what-you-read-on-twitter-33211
13. Who is Tweeting about Ebola? The World Health Organization,
UNICEF, the UN and similar bodies havetaken to Twitter to spread
information and advice, and counter half-truths. Constant updates
from news outlets about who in the West has contractedthe disease
or the level of preparedness of the local hospitals. But only a
handful of tweets have come from the ground in West Africa,where
the crisis is most acute. The number of tweets from three of the
mostaffected countries, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, can be
counted in thehundreds. Out of the more than a million #Ebola
tweets with an identifiable location,around 60% have come from
Americans.http://theconversation.com/ebola-in-the-usa-dont-trust-what-you-read-on-twitter-33211
14. Who is Tweeting about Ebola?Frequent Terms and
Themeshttp://theconversation.com/ebola-in-the-usa-dont-trust-what-you-read-on-twitter-33211
15. Ebola is here! (Fear and sensationalism)The Speaker,
Flickr.com.
16. Who is Tweeting about Ebola?The largest single spike of
chatter on #Ebola was onOctober 16 after news emerged that Amber
Vinson, anurse who treated Duncan, had contracted the virus. On
thatday, more than three-quarters of tweets came from the US.Ebola
largely reflects the hopes and fears of Americans,driven by the
latest news tidbits about the disease on the USmainland. The real
story is happening thousands ofkilometers away, where doctors,
nurses and medicalworkers are trying to contain the outbreak with
stretchedresources. Those tweets from West Africa are simplydrowned
out by the volume and visibility of Americanstweeting about
Ebola.http://theconversation.com/ebola-in-the-usa-dont-trust-what-you-read-on-twitter-33211
17. Ebola Worries RiseBroad Support for U.S. Efforts to Deal
With Ebola in West
Africahttp://www.people-press.org/2014/10/21/ebola-worries-rise-but-most-are-fairly-confident-in-government-hospitals-to-deal-with-disease/
18. What Can Communicators Do? Direct public concern into Ebola
aid:http://www.kellyhills.com/blog/aid-organizations-working-in-ebola-regions/[T]here
is an onus on the various mediumsto expand the call for help
expressed byboth the WHO and MSF. Unfortunately, thisdidn't happen
quickly. As a result, littlewas done for months after the
PublicHealth Emergency was declared. Whiletraditional media may not
choose thisroute, blog posts and social media can beused to spread
the word. MSF has done agood job but they cant do this alone. Jason
A Tetro, AKA TheGermGuy
19. What can you do to cover Ebola, or similaroutbreaks,
better?
20. Ask Questions of ExpertsAs with any topic, journalists with
questions aboutEbola virus disease or possible cases incommunities
should do what they always do askquestions and provide accurate
information.- Andrew
Seaman,http://blogs.spjnetwork.org/ethics/2014/10/20/ebola-in-america/
21. Find Experts, not experts
22. Some Science Bloggers/Writers Covering Ebola with
ExpertiseVirology Down Under
-http://virologydownunder.blogspot.com/http://www.taracsmith.com/ebola.htmlhttp://www.wired.com/category/superbugDont
be afraid to ask theseand other experts for help/infoon social
media
23. The Hot Zone is NOT a good example
24. Dont Believe Everything You See in the Movies Part of the
fear about an Ebola outbreak in theUS stems from how the virus has
been treated byHollywood and the media. "Ebola has a mystique about
it because the waythat it has been treated in fiction. - Amesh
Adalja,an infectious disease specialist from theUniversity of
Pittsburgh Medical Center and theCenter for Health Security All of
these factors work to fuel a panic mentality.But in the US, Canada,
Europe, and mostcountries with well-developed health caresystems,
Ebola poses almost no real risk becausepatients can be isolated and
treated withoutspreading the
virus.http://www.businessinsider.com/ebola-virus-in-us-dallas-dont-panic-2014-9#ixzz3EqcLntE8
25. Combating Public Misperceptions"If you came of age at a
certain time, when you hear Ebola, youalmost certainly associate it
with stories of people horriblybleeding from every orifice, eyes
weeping blood, as they die aviolent and wet death. Graphic, it
makes for good thriller readingor moviesand yet, is so inaccurate,
people are actually dyingbecause it doesn't look like you think it
'should' from thesepopular media reports.You have to walk back what
people think theyknow, in order to share not only what they
shouldbut need to know.- Kelly Hills, science writer/editor
26. Its about more than Virology
27. Better ways to cover the Ebola outbreak Focus more on the
people who are dying in the Western Africannations. Be honest about
why the typical models for controlling an Ebolaoutbreak aren't
working there. Don't perpetuate the unsubstantiated claims of
mutation. Look beyond the medical to the anthropology, the culture,
and theother factors beyond poverty that are blocking efforts at
containment. Be aware of the privilege that comes from writing
while wealthy -center the story on the people actually suffering
from the devastatingeffects of Ebola (whether they or their family
have contracted or diedfrom it, or if they're being hurt from the
lack of medical services for allother needs) Be realistic about
both why the situation has deteriorated and how itwill be
fixed.
28. Crisis Communications: Dont Spread Panic
29. Beware Airborne and Mutation Claims One of the most
controversial issues implicated in the current outbreak isthe issue
of whether Ebola can be transmitted through the air. Scientists
donot believe it can, based on the most recent lab experiments. The
CDC summarizes the findings of several studies as follows:
Airbornetransmission of Ebola virus has been hypothesized but not
demonstrated inhumans. While Ebola virus can be spread through
airborne particles underexperimental conditions in animals, this
type of spread has not beendocumented during human EVD outbreaks in
settings such as hospitals
orhouseholds.http://journalistsresource.org/studies/society/public-health/ebola-virus-us-preparedness-review-research-perspectives#Nature
magazine 2014
study:http://www.nature.com/srep/2014/140725/srep05824/full/srep05824.html
30. Focus on Global AnglesThere's been too much focus on the
American health care workersand British nurse who were sick, and
not enough on the folks inWest Africa dying of the disease. Kelly
Hills
31. Focus on Global Angles, Humanize the
Outbreakhttp://www.scilogs.com/thats_basic_science/outbreak-abroad-jennifer-yang-toronto-star/
32. Science Tweeters: #ebolanoia
33. Science Tweeters: #ebolanoia
34. Other Issues Culturally SensitiveScience Communication
35. Other Issues Culturally SensitiveScience CommunicationAs an
ecologist, I appreciate this perspective. It's an important
connection that fewpeople make or understand. When forest
ecosystems are modified or destroyed andhuman settlements expand
into once wild or hardly inhabited spaces, people are morelikely to
come into contact with diseases. It's referred to as Vector Sink
dynamics.Visit the website and use scan it. It's image after image
of thick masses of sick anddepressed black and brown bodies
associated with negative phrases like human filth,polluting the
earth, ecosystem collapse. Then there's this one image of a white
guyholding a sign "Earth is Everything" - defender of the Earth I
suppose.I see no passionate outrage on the deforestation and mining
interests or coffee/cocoaagriculture interests in West Africa and
how these (Western) political-economicinterests play a role in
Ebola spread dynamics or West African poverty, populationspread,
climate change impact, or large-scale civil conflict.The messages
sound judge-y and accusatory and let Western culprits completely
offof the hook for the myriad ways they contribute to
disenfranchisement and disparitiesin developing nations. Dr.
Danielle Lee,
@DNLee5http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/urban-scientist/2014/10/27/if-you-cant-be-a-good-example-be-a-warning-how-ecointernets-scicomm-fail-can-make-you-a-more-culturally-aware-science-communicator/
36. First Case of Ebola in the USOK Coverage: Business
InsiderNo-so-OK Coverage: CNNThe patient is believed to have had
ahandful of contacts with people aftershowing symptoms of the
virus, and beforebeing isolated, Frieden said. A CDC teamwas en
route to Texas to help investigatethose contacts. [] At the same
time,Frieden sought to play down the risk topublic health. There
are currently no othersuspected cases of Ebola in Texas. NBCThe
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hasconfirmed the first
patient to be diagnosed with Ebola inthe United States is at a
hospital in Dallas. But they saythere's "zero risk" he infected
anyone else on his flighthere and they're confident the virus will
not spreadwidely in the United States.
37. Lessons For Journalism Students If you are asked to cover a
particular research study on Ebola; do whatyou can to put some kind
of human element and context into the story thatwill make people
care about the outbreak as a whole. - Erika CheckHayden I believe
the word context must be discussed. A look at the history,
thesociopolitical issues, the economic issues, the culture, the
behaviors, andthe reaction to intervention needs to be explored.
Also, a look at howprevious encounters in other areas of the world
(SARS, cholera, etc.) canoffer perspective on how this current
outbreak is either unique (its not) orsimilar to other epidemics. -
Jason The Germ Guy TetroThe fight against Ebola in Guinea.
EuropeanCommission DG ECHO, Flickr.com
38. Lessons For PR & Crisis Communication Students Rely on
the experts. And University PR/PIO? Check all your
departments!Don't be afraid to mass email! Look under rocksand I
mean that kind ofliterally; my alma mater? The epidemiologists
often were in the geographydepartment, because diseases are often
impacted/affected by naturalterrain. - Kelly Hills Be careful and
only speak when the evidence is known. On that note,avoid at all
costs the What If scenario. - Jason The Germ Guy Tetro
39. More Reading Covering Ebola How Do You Catch Ebola: By Air,
Sweat Or Water? Ebola scams are sickening 13 things you need to
know about Ebola Peter Piot, one of Ebola discoverers: "I wouldn't
be worried to sit next to someone withEbola virus on the Tube as
long as they don't vomit on you or something. This is aninfection
that requires very close contact." Studying Ebola, Then Dying From
It, a piece that brings humanity to the outbreak Scientists see
risk of mutant airborne Ebola as remote, via Reuters Surviving
Ebola, but Untouchable Back Home World struggles to stop Ebola CDC
Updates: http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/