WATCH | Inside SA's newsrooms during the Covid-19 pandemic

• Journalists covering Covid-19 have struggled to access information from national and provincial health departments.
• The physical safety and mental health of journalists have remained major sources of anxiety for editors and newsroom managers throughout the pandemic.
• Balanced Covid-19 coverage, separating the politics from the science, is needed as well the community's voice.

You see their faces on your screens as they give people breaking news on the Covid-19 pandemic.

You read their names on stories that pick apart the science and the politics behind changing policies.

You hear their voices on radio airwaves, explaining what the latest case numbers mean for you and your family.

Now you get a glimpse of the realities of South Africa's journalists as they bring you the latest Covid-19 news.

Our fifth #BhekisisaWebinar, hosted on Tuesday, 22 June, brought together journalists and editors from South Africa's leading media houses.

The panel of five, led in conversation by Bhekisisa's very own Mia Malan, discussed the realities of reporting from the front line, how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the business of news, and how covering Covid-19 has illuminated the politics behind the science.

On the front line and exposed: Heidi GiokosHeidi Giokos is an eNCA business correspondent. Her usual coverage of South Africa's markets took a pivot in February when she began reporting on the Sisonke study. Since then, Giokos has been giving viewers live updates from Covid-19 vaccination sites across the country.

This reporting from the front line, has resulted in her testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes Covid-19) earlier this year.

READ | Three journalists die of Covid-19 complications

Despite taking all the necessary precautions, Giokos remains anxious at the thought of possible reinfection.

One of the key frustrations in covering Covid-19 has been the obstacles cause by poor government communication, Giokos notes.

"You ask Gauteng health why Nasrec, (a field hospital) was decommissioned ... And you know, we're in the middle of a third wave. Gauteng numbers are extremely alarming. They tell you 'no, there are enough beds'. Whereas you speak to the private sector, and you speak to actual doctors on the ground in these wards, and they tell you 'there are no beds. People are being turned away'. So it becomes extremely frustrating."

Taking care of our journalists: Mahlatse Mahlase 

Mahlatse Mahlase is the group editor-in-chief of Eyewitness News. She leads a team of journalists who need to make sense of the science and politics of the pandemic.

One of her biggest anxieties has been securing the physical and mental safety of her newsroom's journalists while they're on the beat. 

For Mahlase, one of the important roles journalists need to play in covering Covid-19 effectively, requires that they strike a balance between correcting misinformation and possibly amplifying it. "Because people live on social media and WhatsApp has become that communication tool, when the media has the capacity to explain the science, then we should actually find the time."

READ | Zuma supporters turn on journalists at Nkandla

A consequence of poor government communication during the pandemic is that information vacuums can be created, Mahlase highlights. It is the responsibility of regulators, such as the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra), to fill information vacuums like these with credible information, Mahlase says.

"I think a lot of us in our different media houses have already asked the question: 'Why is it that Sputnik (a vaccine made in Russia) and all the others are not yet registered?' ... If they (Sahpra) dismiss this as a [question in the] political realm that they don't want to enter, then they're going to allow for a narrative from a very influential political leader to actually dominate the conversation."

Community voices matter: Estelle Ellis

Estelle Ellis is a senior journalist at Daily Maverick with experience in reporting health-focused stories. Her reporting pays special attention to the community dynamics responding to health policies.

For the national vaccination strategy to be effective, some autonomy should be granted to sites like those located in the Eastern Cape, Ellis highlights. "I've seen people who came to ask what's going on [at vaccination sites] and the next thing they know, they've been registered and vaccinated and sent on their way. And I think it's important that the vaccination sites are allowed to do those things in our province, that it's not so super-managed."

The quality and reliability of government-provided information has also been a concern for Ellis, who's found contradicting figures between national and provincial data while reporting on Covid-19. This has meant that developing contacts and relationships with community leaders to get a clear sense of what's actually happening, is essential for her Covid-19 reporting.

Politics and Covid-19: Zain Semaar

Zain Semaar is the managing editor for input at Newzroom Afrika.

"Most of these stories have become quite politicised, whether it's the rollout of the vaccination, whether it's the inefficiency of the hospital system to deal effectively with the number of rising infections, or the relationship between business and the health department."

For Semaar, some of the important aspects of covering Covid-19 requires reporting on these political dynamics informing the decision-making, along with the changing numbers and figures.

Science is political: Aisha Abdool Karim

Aisha Abdool Karim is now a senior health reporter at Bhekisisa but started her career as an intern at Daily Maverick, where she covered politics.

For Abdool Karim, effective Covid-19 coverage involves clarifying the roles and responsibilities of the scientific community in the policy process. For example, advisory committees such as the Covid-19 ministerial advisory committee, offer advice and aren't involved in implementation.

Picking a focus area of the pandemic to cover has helped Abdool Karim keep a handle on the flood of information she needs to sort through for her reporting.

Covering the pandemic has helped highlight, for her, the interconnectedness of health reporting. "The health sector doesn't operate in isolation. And so you have to really be aware of where it's overlapping with other areas and other sectors. And one of those sectors is politics.

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