An Example
We looked at the process of debriefing and auditing journalists and their news coverage in the last newsletter. If you haven’t read it yet, please do. I think it will help you understand what we’re going to do next.
Journalists and news consumers from many countries read this newsletter, so I’m going to select a news story that has impacted people in most countries. That would be the Covid-19 Pandemic. I think most of us would agree that the novel coronavirus has impacted just about everybody on the planet to one degree or another (e.g. social distancing, masking, lockdowns, vaccines, illness, death, etc.) during the past two years.
I think journalists, news managers, and news consumers can learn a lot from an audit of coverage of the worldwide pandemic. We can see what the news media did right, what they did wrong, and how journalists can do better in the future.
The Early Days
The early days of any big story are often the most difficult for journalists and news consumers. Early information about a big story is hard to uncover and confirm. Journalists have to keep digging for the truth and news consumers have to keep looking for the best sources for news coverage. It’s an important time for news managers to control information flow and what’s confirmed and what’s not. Auditing how your news team covered those early days may give you some ideas about what to do the next time a big story lands in your newsroom.
The Centers for Disease Control website begins the Covid 19 timeline on December 12, 2019.
A cluster of patients in Wuhan, Hubei Providence, China begin to experience shortness of breath and fever.
The CDC’s next date is December 31, 2019.
The World Health Organization China Country Office is informed of a number cases of pneumonia of unknown etiology (unknown cause) detected in Wuhan, Hubei Province. All cases connected to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan.
However, ABC News reported that U.S. intelligence officials warned about a contagion sweeping through China’s Wuhan region as early as November 2019.
Concerns about what is now known to be the novel coronavirus pandemic were detailed in a November intelligence report by the military's National Center for Medical Intelligence (NCMI), according to two officials familiar with the document’s contents.
The report was the result of analysis of wire and computer intercepts, coupled with satellite images. It raised alarms because an out-of-control disease would pose a serious threat to U.S. forces in Asia -- forces that depend on the NCMI’s work.
The South China Morning Post reported that the first Covid-19 case can be traced back to November 17, “according to government data seen by the South China Morning Post.” The Post also reported that interviews with whistle-blowers from the medical community “suggest Chinese doctors only realised they were dealing with a new disease in late December.”
According to the government data seen by the Post, a 55 year-old from Hubei province could have been the first person to have contracted Covid-19 on November 17.
From that date onwards, one to five new cases were reported each day. By December 15, the total number of infections stood at 27 – the first double-digit daily rise was reported on December 17 – and by December 20, the total number of confirmed cases had reached 60.
On December 27, Zhang Jixian, a doctor from Hubei Provincial Hospital of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, told China’s health authorities that the disease was caused by a new coronavirus. By that date, more than 180 people had been infected, though doctors might not have been aware of all of them at the time.
The Wall Street Journal reported later that three researchers from China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology sought hospital care in November 2019. The report quoted “previously undisclosed U.S. intelligence reports.”
Here are some other dates of interest to journalists and news consumers from just the month of January 2020 —
Xinhua News reported on January 1, 2020 that the Huanan Seafood Market had been closed for cleaning and disinfection.
The World Health Organization (WHO) activated its incident management systems January 2nd and reported about it on their website on January 5th.
China reported to WHO on January 3rd that 44 patients had “pneumonia of unknown etiology.” Eleven patients were severely ill.
Chinese public health officials shared the genetic sequence of the virus (known initially as Wuhan-Hu-1) on January 5th.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) activated a “Center Level Response” for the virus on the same day.
Two days later, on January 7th, health officials in China reported that the cause of the outbreak was a “novel coronavirus.”
The CDC established a 2019-nCoV Incident Management Structure the same day and published information about the novel coronavirus on its website on January 10th.
The CDC began screening passengers on direct and connecting flights from Wuhan at major U.S. airports on January 17th.
The CDC also deployed a team to Washington state to investigate the first reported case of 2019-nCOV in the United States on the same day.
The CDC took samples on January 18th and confirmed the first case of Covid-19 in the U.S. on January 20th.
The CDC transitioned from a Center-led Incident Management Structure to an Agency-wide Structure the next day (January 21st).
The CDC also activated its Emergency Response System on the 21st.
The city of Wuhan suspended outbound flight and rail service on January 22nd (Chinese news report from January 23, 2020). 17 people had died and almost 600 were infected with the virus by that date.
WHO confirmed the human-to-human spread of Covid-19 on January 22nd, but decided not to declare it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern until January 31st.
The U.S. White House Coronavirus Task Force began on January 29th.
The U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services declared SARS-CoV-2 virus a public health emergency on January 31st. The Task Force announced new travel policies two days later.
That’s a lot of information coming at journalists in a relatively short period of time. Remember the journalistic process? Gather — Confirm — Report. You can see why reporting about Covid-19 has been so challenging, especially in the early days and weeks of the virus outbreak.
News Manager Response
If you manage a news department, think back over the last two-and-a-half years. How has your team done in covering the Covid-19 outbreak in your community, region, or country? If you or an outside group did a forensic audit on your team’s coverage (e.g. comparing reporter notes and raw video to written scripts and edited video), how would your team fare in these areas?
Curiosity
Skepticism
Objectivity
Accuracy
Following the Money
Following the People
Following the Science
Using Logic and Reason
What do you believe an audit of your news team’s Covid coverage would find? Would you be pleased or disappointed with what auditors found? Would you find any areas that could be improved for future coverage? What do you think you would learn as a news manager that would help you do a better job managing big stories in the future?
News Consumer Response
As we’ve mentioned before, a Gallup Poll taken less than a year ago found that news consumers have "not very much" trust (27%) or "none at all" trust (33%) in the news media. A Pew Research survey taken more than a year earlier gave the news media a higher grade for covering Covid, but even then 60% of those surveyed said the news media had exaggerated the risks of the virus. 40% thought the news media had “greatly exaggerated” the risks.
News coverage of Covid-19 impacted people deeply. You can find a roundup of Gallup Covid-19 coverage at this site that covers the time period of April 2020 to March 2022. You can find Gallup’s Public Opinion on COVID-19 Crisis: All Gallup News Articles at this site. As for what news consumers think about American’s trust in scientists and other groups since the beginning of Covid, you may find this Pew Research interesting. It also mentions journalists.
I’m curious how you as a news consumer would grade how the news media has covered Covid-19 during the past two+ years. Think about all of the stories you’ve watched and read about Covid since January 2020 to the present. Based on everything you saw, heard and read, how would you grade the overall coverage of Covid 19 by journalists? How well did they do their job?
A — Excellent
B — Good
C — Fair
D — Disappointing
F — Failed
Which grade did you choose? Why did you give journalists that grade? If you graded them a C or below, what could they have done better? Did you find any news source(s) the past two+ years that you think deserved a B or even an A? If so, what was it about their coverage that rose above the rest? Please share in the Comments section.
Next Newsletter
I’ll share the importance of journalists being curious and skeptical about Covid-19 in the next newsletter. What I plan to share with you may be a bit surprising.
Comments Welcome
I hope these thoughts are helpful to you as a journalist or news consumer. Please share your comments and I’ll respond as quickly as I can. If you like what we’re doing in this newsletter, please let your friends know about it so they can subscribe.
Newsletter Purpose
The purpose of this newsletter is to help journalists understand how to do real journalism and the public know how they can find news they can trust on a daily basis. It’s a simple purpose, but complicated to accomplish. I’ll do my best to make it as clear as I can in future newsletters.