Bournemouth University Collaborates with Docfort for Journalism Internships
Medical students participate in Media Action Against Rape (MAAR)
By Spurthi Venkatesh
Journalism professors from Bournemouth University (UK) held a briefing on MAAR News Tracker in April at Docfort Academy, Bangalore.
NewsTracker is a community blogging project with which Docfort medical journalism students will intern during their course. It is part of a larger research and capacity building project titled Media Action Against Rape and Sexual Violence (MAAR), led by Bournemouth University and UNESCO New Delhi.
The briefing focused on how to make rape reporting a credible effort and clinically correct, thus playing a significant role in shaping our rape culture.
News Tracker is co-published by Bournemouth University and Ashoka University, in association with Amity School of Communication, the Department of Journalism and Communication at the University of Madras and Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts. It aims to examine and analyze the depth of difficulties faced in rape reportage in media. The involvement of medicos in writing about sensitive health and medical-related issues like rape and sexual harassment adds credibility in the eyes of the general population.
During the live panel, Bournemouth University journalism professors Dr. Einar Thorsen and Dr. Chindu Sreedharan stated that despite the large number of rapes reported, they are, in a large part, either ignored or sensationalized by news media.
The Bournemouth-UNESCO Project is designed to analyze the processes involved in rape reportage and produce a set of country-specific journalism guidelines.
The audience comprised a heterogeneous group — doctors, journalists and medical students. Anna Thomas, Head of Medical Journalism, Docfort Meducation said, “Medical students are probably most suited for this project given the technicality, in addition to the emotional connect with this project. “
“Docfort is excited to collaborate with Bournemouth on this project, as we can aid and abet in improving rape reporting,” said Sparshitha V., a medical student who is part of Docfort’s certificate course in medical journalism. “Our collaboration also brings out an element of social responsibility among participants in addition to the vast exposure they get to a new specialty like medical journalism. “
(Read more articles from Spurthi in the upcoming issue of Pulse. For the print edition, write to anna@docfortmeducation.com)
