In Sierra Leone, Journalists Support Ebola Information during Lockdown
Medical workers in Sierra Leone decontaminate after transporting people who have contracted Ebola. (credit: Stephen Douglas)
When the President of Sierra Leone announced a national three-day lockdown on September 18, the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) and the Independent Radio Network (IRN) sprang into action.
Most Sierra Leoneans complied with the order and stayed at home, tuning into their radios religiously.
During the 36-hour-3-day, broadcast marathon, over 25 guests were interviewed from the World Health Organization (WHO), Doctors Without Borders (MSF), task forces, operation centers, the Center for Disease Control (CDC), government ministries, religious organizations and a host of others. The voices of those staying at home had to be recorded on location because travel during the three days was severely restricted. Up to 40 radio stations participated from west to east and north to south.
“I'd say at this stage 100% of the population know that a deadly disease has struck Sierra Leone,” said Internews Media Development Consultant, Stephen Douglas, who has been working with journalists in the country during the Ebola crisis. “They may not know [everything about Ebola], but they know there's a disease in Sierra Leone, a disease that kills. I'd also say that radio has played a significant role in this goal. SLAJ and IRN were on air for 13 hours a day. They added to the sensitization and awareness tremendously.”
During the lockdown period, journalists followed sensitizing teams of volunteers from door-to-door, they followed burial teams, and they visited hospitals and treatment centers even in remote areas of the country.
Conditions for Ebola patients are dire in Sierra Leone where there are few facilities for treatment and medical staff have little training or experience dealing with Ebola. Protective equipment is also inadequate.
Mohamed Faray Kargbo, a local journalist who participated in the broadcast, wrote on Facebook, “The indispensable role of IRN has once again been manifested, this time, in the war against a seemingly invincible yet invisible enemy – Ebola. Let me hasten to observe that no better collaboration could have been done than the one with the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists.”
Douglas said on Sunday evening, the final day of the shutdown, a youthful cleric preached a bit of gospel during an interview. The pastor called upon listeners to stand up and shout praise. “And even from inside, you could hear the city erupt with audible shouts, pot-lid banging, singing and prayers: a testament to the number of listeners tuned in to the broadcasts.”
Internews’ work in Sierra Leone is supported by the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation.
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