案例描述

Don’t publish rumours, verify your data and make sure your source is legitimate and informed. As a journalist, those are some of the rules you must follow. But sources and officials must facilitate this procedure, releasing correct and transparent information.
We all remember H5N1, SARS or H1N1 news coverage. Rumours were being spread, numbers didn’t add up and there was a lot of contradictory information circulating. As a reader, I too was confused. But should we only blame journalists for this?
Communication involves different agents and journalists may not be the only ones to blame should anything unclear be published. Of course, as a reporter, you should always follow the rules I’ve already mentioned. But, as an official releasing information to the public, you must hand out complete, accurate and transparent data. Or, if you are an expert, you should inform the journalist of all the procedures you’re following, the issues you are studying and the things you still don’t know. Above all, be honest.
Communication is hard. Officials are afraid of saying the wrong thing or spreading unnecessary panic, journalists want to release as much information as they can and experts do not want to hand out unconfirmed data. What happens in the middle of this procedure? Something gets lost in translation and people are misinformed.
But, remember, communication is not unilateral. The journalists are not the only ones to blame. Officials are not the only ones to blame. Experts are not the only ones to blame. All parties must be honest, truthful and transparent, because the public really does have the right to know.

By Luciana Leitão