In FluPortal’s latest webinar, NPR Health Editor Joe Neel pulled back the curtain on NPR’s health & science desk to reveal how it has reported on H1N1 — and how it plans to continue in the months ahead. Using social media, he said, has been a lynchpin. There are interesting lessons here for all health/science reporters.
Neel summarized the current global H1N1 situation by showing the graphs and data sources that NPR relies on for its information. He then explained why NPR was ready to cover H1N1 when it emerged in April 2009: the network had been reporting on pandemic flu since the H5N1 bird flu of 2004 and therefore had “amassed a lot of reportorial experience in this area.”
The other significant element that has allowed NPR to cover the story in depth: social media. Specifically, Shots (NPR’s health blog) and Richard Knox’s Twitter stream. Neel explained that through sheer coincidence, he had started a Shots prototype just days before H1N1 emerged last spring. So the health desk was able to “turn on a dime” and get the blog up and running immediately. Why has it been so useful? First, Neel said, there was simply too much news to put on the air; the blog was an additional outlet. Second, the news environment was so competitive that the hour between newscasts seemed an eternity — and the blog allowed the health team to post breaking news immediately. Here’s how Neel summarized the centrality of social media in NPR’s H1N1 coverage:
Our experience with the blog really changed the orientation of the journalists on our desk to see the usefulness of a blog and of social media. Dick Knox has started tweeting and really starting to use it as a journalistic tool as other journalists are doing. It really brought us into this age. It’s one of the most exciting things I’ve seen happen here at NPR.
Neel wrapped up with ideas for future national coverage and for future local coverage (these are screenshots of his webinar slides):
[Joe Neel, FluPortal webinar]
It’s well worth a few minutes to watch Neel’s full presentation:
You can see the entire webinar here.
