CBCHS News Correspondents cautioned against Sensational Reporting
Prof. Tih Muffih, Director of Health Services (DHS) has admonished news reporters and journalists of the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services (CBCHS) to always crosscheck the information they gather and disseminate.
“How will this information help the services to grow, how will it help you as a reporter to grow in journalism, and if it is not beneficial, informative or educative, discard it,” Prof. Tih told the close to 50 news reporters from across the CBCHS institutions who converged on the Baptist Center in Bamenda for two-day workshop on news reporting from November 4-5, 2022.
In his greetings, the DHS used the opportunity to frown at the recent unorthodox practice of posting unverified and sensational information using the android phone. The DHS urged the budding reporters never to send any information to the CBCHS Website or social media page without authorization from the Communication Unit which has the sole responsibility to do so. Prof. Tih also had kind words for the participants, who have opted to volunteer as field reporters to the Communication Unit in addition to their primary assignments. They included: finance clerks, secretaries, security guards, laboratory staff, pharmacy staff, housekeepers and a chief of center among others.
Drawing inspiration from Scriptures, in his devotional, Rev. Fongoh Godwin, Chaplain at the CBCHS Central Administration admonished the reporters to report truth that leads to life.
The CBCHS Communication Unit team of facilitators led by the Head of Department, Clementina Njang Yong schooled the reporters on the basics of news reporting beginning with the definition, Format/Sources/Qualities/Importance of news, Techniques of newsgathering, Interview Techniques, Photojournalism, Elements of Good Writing, Identifying and Initiating success stories and Editorial Policy among others.
The workshop provided an opportunity for participants to work in three groups and write news reports based on the principles learned. Before the workshop rose, the news reporters expressed gratitude to the facilitators for a job well done. At the time of this report, some reporters were already filing in reports of activity from their respective stations.
