Solutions Journalism for Maternal Health Reporting

Maternal Figures and Solution Journalism Network present a webinar on solutions journalism, with a focus on maternal health.

Transcript

1. Solutions Journalism Webinar - January 15, 2020
2. Solutions Journalism - an overview, dos and don'ts Applying Solutions Jounalism to maternal health - focus on Nigeria Maternal Figures - the database and its features Pitch your own solutions journalism story Webinar Overview 2 / 29 #MaternalFigures
3. A lot of news reports focus primarily on how bad the issue is. Readers, as citizens, deserve to know more. 3 / 29 How many sources cover maternal health #MaternalFigures
4. Rigorous reporting on responses to social problems. SoJo seeks to rebalance the news, so that every day people are exposed to stories that help them understand problems and challenges, and stories that show potential ways to respond. What is Solutions Journalism? 4 / 29 #MaternalFigures
5. Covers a response to a problem and how it happened. Provides evidence of impact, looking at effectiveness, not just intentions (if a pilot, evidence may be incomplete.) Evidence can include Qualitative or quantitative data. It is also possible to write a Solutions story about a failed response. This can look at why a program didn’t work and what others can learn from it. Produces insights that can help others respond too Points out any limitations or caveats of the response (“to be sure…”) Elements of SoJo 5 / 29 #MaternalFigures
6. 6 / 29 #MaternalFigures The Solution The Problem Case Study 1
7. 7 / 29 #MaternalFigures Qualitative Case Study 1 - Evidence of Impact Quantitative
8. 8 / 29 #MaternalFigures Clear example of how Uganda's progress can be replicated in other countries Case Study 1 This shows that not all solutions are fixes, there are always limitations and caveats
9. 9 / 29 #MaternalFigures This story covers “the response” to the problem of inadequate healthcare in a community in Niger State, which is a fully functioning PHC in a community. Case Study 2
10. 10 / 29 #MaternalFigures Evidence of quantitative impact: number of women who use PHC Case Study 2 Examples of how this solution can be replicated
11. 11 / 29 In this story, the limitation is that 40 kilometers from “the solution” conditions of another PHC are dramatically different despite funding made available to revitalize PHCs. Case Study 2 #MaternalFigures
12. Nigeria Health Watch - Hand In Hand: Collaboration For Better Maternal Health In Gombe Notable Solutions Story Mentions 12 / 29 #MaternalFigures Nigeria Health Watch - From Land To Sea: Improving Maternal And Child Health Access In Lagos State Africa Newspage - dRPC-PSIPSE: Empowering Northern girls, communities through early childhood education Vanguard - Community takes action against newborn deaths in Oyo Find more solutions stories or add yours by visiting the Solutions Journalism StoryTracker - A database of over 8,000 stories from over 150 countries.
13. Solutions Journalism is not Hero Worship Solutions Journalism is not a 'Silver Bullet ' Panadol Extra' Solution Solutions Journalism is not a Favor for a Friend Solutions Journalism is not a Theory Solutions Journalism is not an Afterthought Solutions Journalism is not Activism Solutions Journalism is not a Press Release Solutions Journalism is not a Feel Good Story A Quick Checklist 13 / 29 #MaternalFigures
14. Nigeria accounts for 19% of the world's maternal deaths (UN, 2015). Nigeria's Maternal Health Crisis 14 / 29 #MaternalFigures 0 20,000 40,000 60,000 China India United States Indonesia Brazil Pakistan Nigeria Bangladesh Russia Mexico Number of maternal deaths in the 10 most populous countries Source: Quartz/Atlas
15. We need good Solutions Journalism stories to highlight how well maternal health solutions are working in order to improve and share our maternal health successes. 15 / 29 #MaternalFigures
16. According to Nigeria’s 'multiple' data sources the maternal mortality ratio of the country has reduced no more than 40% between 1990 and 2015. Nigeria failed to meet the Millenium Development Goal of 2015, which required countries to reduce maternal mortality by 75% between 1990 and 2015. With the upcoming SDG goal of MMR < 140 per 100,000, SoJo is an effective and thorough way of tracking whether Nigeria is likely to meet that goal. 16 / 29 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 1,500 1,000 500 0 Comparison between IHME and WHO data for Nigeria's MMR IHME UN/World Bank Use SoJo to report on persistent problems #MaternalFigures Source: IHME, Africa Health Stats
17. Maternal Figures is a grant-funded research project that is documenting maternal health interventions in Nigeria from 2000 to 2020. 17 / 29 #MaternalFigures
18. Ashley Okwuosa Project Lead Leads the fact-checking of the interventions, interfaces with our partner organizations, and supervises the qualitative research. Chuma Asuzu Responsible for data research and product manager for the database. 18 / 29 Team #MaternalFigures
19. What journalists have told us 19 / 29 #MaternalFigures Unnecessary bureaucracy Too many projects with little impact Overestimation of impact Specialized beat Lack of stakeholder interest and community awareness Access to current and updated (public health) data Funding for reporting, including grants Adverse perception of the media Lack of proper training Lack of cooperation between health personnel and journalists Traditional and cultural barriers Access to rural areas for on-the-ground reporting
20. Demo of Maternal Figures Database 20 / 29 #MaternalFigures
21. Nigeria Health Watch Resource Tab Nigerian Journal of Clinical Practice Tropical Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology The Nigerian Health Journal Policy Information Platform USAID Development Exchange Clearinghouse Nigeria Country Development Cooperation Strategy (USAID) The WHO Essential Medicines and Health Products Information Portal Essential Medicines List (Sixth Revision 2016) - Nigeria Institute for Health Metrics Nigeria Maternal Mortality Ratio Federal Ministry of Health Dashboard 21 / 29 #MaternalFigures Other resources
22. How does the response work? Slow the interview down. What parts of the problem aren’t addressed by the response? Where did this idea come from? Is it being replicated elsewhere? With what effects? What does the research say? What do the critics say? What metrics matter when it comes to measuring success? In what ways is that response working, in what ways is it not working, and how do we know? What are its barriers to replication? 22 / 29 #MaternalFigures Key Questions to ask when reporting
23. Don’t overclaim Briefly paint the whole landscape Use data Make your story about the approach, not the organization Take out the words “inspiring,” “wonderful,” “super,” “unique,” “genius,” and, in most cases, “solution.” 23 / 29 #MaternalFigures How to avoid advocacy
24. What the character does, not what s/he aims to do Show, don’t tell Let readers draw their own conclusions Reveal characters’ challenges Look for unlikely characters 24 / 29 #MaternalFigures Differences between heroes and characters
25. 25 / 29 Newsroom Partnerships Online Learning Platform Community Building University Outreach The Solutions Journalism Network provides: #MaternalFigures How SJN can help you
26. 26 / 29 Database of maternal health interventions in Nigeria Research and data support from the Brown Institute for Media Innovation Maternal Health reporting trainings and workshops Maternal Figures provides: #MaternalFigures How Maternal Figures can help you Email us: info@maternalfigures.com & read our blog at: blog.maternalfigures.com
27. 27 / 29 In partnership with Nigeria Health Watch, Maternal Figures is asking you to send us pitches for Solutions Stories about Maternal Health in Nigeria. Do you have a story about an something that’s working in your community to reduce maternal deaths? Do you want to write about one of the interventions we’ve included in our database? Send us a pitch *not the full story* (no longer than 300 words) to maternalfigures@gmail.com. Deadline to receive a pitch is February 14, 2020. Although Nigeria Health Watch is only accepting print stories, if you are a radio or tv journalist and would like to workshop a solutions journalism story with us, please reach out to us at any time at maternalfigures@gmail.com. #MaternalFigures Call For Pitches!
28. 28 / 29 research, publishing partnership advisory support grant funders, advisory support Partners & Advisors #MaternalFigures
29. #MaternalFigures Thank you for being here!