Enhancing Public Health Reporting in Vernacular Media: Perspectives of Hindi Journalists in Uttar Pradesh

Media experts and journalists themselves have been advocating for the need for training reporters who write on public health issues due to the sensitive and technical nature of the subject. Since there is no formal sensitisation of journalists before they are asked to cover health. In a diverse country such as India, journalists come from different social backgrounds and varied levels of academic qualifications, with not many possessing the necessary skills and knowledge to write on public health. This study seeks to recognise the barriers faced by Hindi journalists reporting on public health in Uttar Pradesh and to understand their readiness to undergo professional training in public health reporting to overcome these barriers. A quantitative research approach was adopted for the study, and primary data were collected through a bilingual questionnaire shared with the accredited Hindi journalists of Uttar Pradesh. As many as 324 valid responses were received, which were then tested to ascertain the associations and differences between variables. Results showed that Hindi journalists in Uttar Pradesh faced several barriers in writing on public health, and professional training would help to overcome at least some of these challenges.