Journalist’s Trade

Two infectious disease specialists describe and discuss what the scientific community knows about the avian flu virus H5N1 and how pandemic influenza might emerge.

Reporters and editors discuss how they've covered disaster situations, including those in which people were infected by the H5N1 virus. And they talk about preparations they are making at their…

Whether it involves education, law enforcement or public health, preparation for pandemic flu should be underway in every community. Speakers addressed tasks and topics that should be examined by reporters,…

Much has been learned about how people react and respond to disasters. From these experiences emerge lessons that can guide journalists in understanding better what they can expect to happen…

A man wears a rooster head to publicize bird flu prevention on the streets of Xi’an in China’s Shaanxi Province. March 2006. Photo courtesy of The Associated Press/EyePress. Stephen Prior,…

What transpired between journalists and sources during past disasters and crises—such as the 2001 anthrax attacks—can illuminate challenges confronting the press as it seeks reliable information from experts. Some lessons…

As a media fellow at the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Maryn McKenna, author of “Beating Back the Devil: On the Front Lines with the Disease Detectives of the Epidemic…

For those who will bear the responsibility of communicating to journalists during an outbreak of pandemic flu, the preparation comes in the daily exchanges they are having already with reporters…

"The Next Big Health Crisis—And How to Cover It" brought journalists together with scientists, public health officials, medical experts, academic researchers, law enforcement officers, public policy experts, and Homeland Security…

John M. Barry concludes his book, “The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History,” with the following haunting words. There was terror afoot in 1918. The randomness…