The British Broadcasting Network (BBC), the public-service broadcaster of the United Kingdom, has been awarded the Knight Award for Public Service by the Online News Association earlier this week. The award, which was presented at the 2015 Online Journalism Awards dinner of the Online News Association Conference, was given to BBC for its use of the chat application WhatsApp to distribute information about Ebola in stricken areas during the 2014 outbreak.
The network used the new platform to give out information in English and French, in formats that would reach readers everywhere. It also made use of graphics, texts and audio files and avoided video clips. “It’s a big honour to bring home this award,” said BBC digital editor Steve Herrmann upon accepting the prize. “It is a bigger honour to be part of a life-saving service.”
While the BBC may have covered the Ebola story impressively, there are other platforms which excelled in their coverage but remain unrecognized. Apart from notable contenders such as Al-Jazeera, Ventures Africa has compiled a list of such platforms.
- Ebola Deeply
Launched by Lara Setrakian in a model similar to Syria Deeply, Ebola Deeply is a single-subject news site which aimed to eliminate fear and misinformation surrounding Ebola after its outbreak. It is a pop-up news business designed to collect recent news and provide context in the coverage of the outbreak.
“There’s a lot of reporting, but the space could use coherence, and that’s what we hope to provide,” she said. “We’re not really here to replace anything — we’re here to support the ecosystem.”
- PBS Frontline
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an independently operated, non-profit American public broadcaster and television program distributor located in the United States. Its “Frontline” series was at the forefront in the coverage of Ebola. A PBS reporter, Wael Dabbous, who spent two weeks on the ground as the outbreak spiraled out of control in Sierra Leone, stated that the experience was similar to “being in a war zone where the enemy is invisible”.
They provided exclusive content featuring real life victims of the disease and their health volunteers, and even hosted live chats where people could get answers to questions on Ebola from frontline reporters.
- National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR) is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization in the United States. Similarly to PBS, the NPR reported the Ebola outbreak from the frontlines, but focused more on providing detailed information and busting myths about how the disease is really spread. They also followed the stories of individual victims, from a woman who was spreading Ebola in a remote village, to a young boy who died because he was abandoned by his neighbours.
- Poynter
Poynter is a non-profit school for journalism which is dedicated to teaching and inspiring journalists. After the worst of the Ebola outbreak in 2014, Poynter trained journalists on “Covering Ebola and the Next Killer Contagion.” Through their news platform, MediaWire, they taught important style tips in reporting the unfolding story and intently followed journalists who were actively involved in frontline reporting.
- Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News became important in telling the Ebola story after the disease was discovered in the United States and the duty to tell the story responsibly fell on their shoulders. The network followed the journalistic maxim “it is better to be late than wrong” as they sat on information and refused to publish unverified or inaccurate details.
They were instrumental in keeping the calm during the anticipated outbreak. They also used live Twitter chats to answer questions about transmission, treatment and symptoms of Ebola in real-time. The network also provided reporters with useful information on responsible reporting.