Journalists in the era of Covid-19: learning along with their audience

If one could sum up the job of a journalist, it mostly comes down to telling stories. Not our own, but those of other people. This might sound simple, but the work that goes into writing and broadcasting or publishing a story can take days.

Journalists are thus considered people who have a wealth of information on the widest variety of topics. Now, taking this into consideration, who would ever think we would live in times where we would have to report on something unknown, invisible, so foreign, never experienced in modern times, and only learning the (mutating) facts as we write?

That’s Covid-19 for you. It can certainly be considered a watershed moment in the media industry globally. One day the OFM News team was chasing a story about a church gathering with international guests in Bloemfontein with possible Covid-19 positive cases, the next the whole country had been shut down – lock, stock and barrel – cut-off from the rest of the world. I remember telling a colleague, who responded very calmly, “Not to worry, so is the rest of the world”.

The newsroom was abuzz with more questions than answers. Information overload was the order of the day. The team was in daily brainstorming sessions to figure out ways to tell the story differently. We had to make sure we were double-checking and questioning ourselves all the time. Are we giving enough information? Should we give more? Are we maintaining the correct balance of warning without causing panic? What should we do differently?

But still, the ink from our pens could not dry. We had to learn and inform. And then learn more and inform more. We epitomised the Confucius quote: “The man who asks a question is a fool for a minute, the man who does not ask is a fool for life”.
It was clear that it did not matter what happened, the basic test of journalism – whether a story is considered news or not – still applied. If you do not know the answer to a question, chances are about ten of your friends or family members do not know it either and that is enough people who will be interested in the story.

Another foolproof strategy in journalism – especially when you run out of angles for news articles – is to tell the story through someone’s eyes. To try and make it more human and to tell the story using someone else’s words. But as time went on, we realised that hundreds and thousands of people were testing positive and a frightening number of them were succumbing to the pandemic.

As is the case with any news department worth its salt, the OFM News team sets the news agenda for listeners and readers in Central South Africa. Our ability to keep people informed has been tested in so many ways with the coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Although listeners and readers were glued to their radios and screens during hard lockdown, they became overwhelmed within a few months, and news and pandemic fatigue set in. I do, however, believe that never before have the South African public and the government understood the importance of the news industry as well as they do now.

The OFM News team strives to keep listeners in Central South Africa informed and up to date. More than a year later and the country is now experiencing the third wave. At provincial level, the vaccination programme is in full swing. As the pandemic continues to change our lives in a million different ways, we, the news writers, will continue to learn along with our listeners and readers, and, most importantly, report on it.

For more info, please contact Lindiwe Mtwentula on 051 5050 900, 082 416 1665, or lindiwe@ofm.co.za.

Why OFM
OFM, the Sound of Your Life, is Central South Africa’s premier commercial radio station, offering a mix of music, news and entertainment. The station celebrates 35 years in the business in 2021.
OFM is part of the Central Media Group, with its head office in Bloemfontein, and a satellite studio in Welkom.
The station serves the affluent SEM 7-10 economically active marketplace with a broadcast footprint across the Free State, Northern Cape, southern Gauteng and North West. OFM is synonymous with the people of Central South Africa, and includes a full spectrum of listeners, from urban working moms and dads to corporate professionals, as well as rural communities and agricultural producers.
The station has an incredibly loyal and supportive audience. OFM enjoys one of the highest occurrences of time spent listening to the radio in South Africa. This is achieved by the station’s great music offerings – such as playing listeners their favourite songs on the Request Network and counting down Central South Africa’s 30 biggest hits on the Central SA Top 30.
OFM offers several niche features – including a dedicated agricultural programme with three additional agricultural news updates a day, as well as a dedicated business programme with four additional economic news updates throughout the day.
Sport is close to OFM listeners’ hearts and is what brings much of Central South Africa together. The station is a proud partner, sponsor and supporter of the Cheetahs, Griquas and Leopards rugby teams.
OFM is committed to living the real good life, while at the same time helping Central South Africans to live their best lives. Initiatives such as Let’s Move – a race that focuses on breaking the stigma of mental health – and Chip for Charity – Central South Africa’s most loved golf day for 18 years – make a difference in the lives of the station’s community. This speaks to OFM’s mantra of caring, and changing lives.

 

Joernaliste in die era van Covid-19: leer saam met hul gehoor

As ‘n mens die werk van ‘n joernalis sou kon saamvat, kom dit meestal neer op stories vertel. Nie ons eie nie, maar die van ander mense. Dit klink miskien eenvoudig, maar die werk wat ingaan in die skryf en uitsaai of publisering van ‘n storie kan dae duur.

Joernaliste word dus beskou as mense met ‘n magdom inligting oor die grootste verskeidenheid onderwerpe. Nou, met dit in gedagte, wie sou ooit kon dink dat ons sou leef in ‘n tyd waar ons verslag moes doen oor iets onbekends, onsigbaar, so vreemd, wat ons nog nooit in moderne tye ervaar het nie, en die (muterende) feite moes leer terwyl ons skryf?

Dit is Covid-19 vir jou. Dit kan beslis beskou word as ‘n waterskeidingsoomblik in die mediabedryf wêreldwyd. Op ‘n dag het die OFM-nuusspan ‘n storie nagejaag oor ‘n kerkbyeenkoms met internasionale gaste in Bloemfontein met moontlike positiewe gevalle van Covid-19, die volgende dag was die hele land gesluit – so te sê met slot en grendel… afgesny van die res van die wereld. Ek onthou dat ek dit vir ‘n kollega gesê het en sy het baie kalm geantwoord: ‘Moenie bekommerd wees nie, die res van die wêreld is ook afgesluit’.

Die nuuspersoneel het meer vrae as antwoorde gehad. ‘n Ooraanbod van Inligting was aan die orde van die dag. Die nuusspan het daagliks koppe bymekaar gesit om maniere uit te dink om die storie anders te vertel. Ons moes onsself die heeltyd vra, Gee ons genoeg inligting? Moet ons meer gee? Behou ons die regte balans sonder om paniek te veroorsaak? Wat moet ons anders doen?

Maar tog kon die ink uit ons penne nie droog word nie. Ons moes leer en inlig. En meer leer en meer inlig. Ons het die Confucius-aanhaling beleef: “Die man wat ‘n vraag vra, is ‘n dwaas vir ‘n oomblik; die man wat nie vra nie, is verewig ‘n dwaas”.

Dit was duidelik dat dit nie saak maak wat gebeur nie, die basiese toets van joernalistiek – of ‘n storie as nuus beskou word of nie – was steeds van toepassing. As jy nie die antwoord op ‘n vraag weet nie, is die kanse groot dat tien van jou vriende of familielede dit ook nie weet nie, en dit is genoeg mense wat in die storiel sal belangstel.

Nog ‘n onfeilbare strategie in die joernalistiek – veral as die invalshoeke vir stories min raak – is om die storie deur iemand anders se oë te vertel om dit meer menslik te maak en om die storie te vertel met die hulp van iemand anders se woorde. Maar met verloop van tyd het ons besef dat honderde en duisende mense positief toets en dat ‘n skrikwekkende getal mense sterf.

Soos die geval is in enige nuusafdeling wat hulle sout werd is, stel die OFM-nuusspan die nuusagenda vir luisteraars en lesers in Sentraal-Suid-Afrika. Ons vermoë om mense op hoogte te hou is op soveel maniere getoets met die dekking van die Covid-19-pandemie.

Alhoewel luisteraars en lesers gesmag het vir nuus tydens die inperking, het hulle binne ‘n paar maande oorweldig geraak, en nuus- en pandemie-uitputting het ingetree. Ek glo egter dat die Suid-Afrikaanse publiek en die regering nog nooit vantevore die belangrikheid van die nuusbedryf besef het as nou nie.
Die OFM Nuusspan hou luisteraars in Sentraal-Suid-Afrika op hoogte en op datum. Meer as ‘n jaar later en die land beleef nou die derde golf. Op provinsiale vlak is die inentingsprogram in volle swang. Omdat die pandemie ons lewens in ‘n miljoen verskillende maniere verander het, sal ons, die nuusskrywers, voortgaan om te leer saam met ons luisteraars en lesers, en, veral, daaroor verslag doen.

Vir meer inligting, kontak Lindiwe Mtwentula by 051 5050 900, 082 416 1665, of lindiwe@ofm.co.za.

Oor OFM
OFM, die Klank van Jou Lewe, is dié voorste kommersiële radiostasie in Sentraal-Suid-Afrika. OFM bied ‘n verskeidenheid musiek, nuus en vermaak. Die radiostasie vier in 2021 sy 35ste jaar in die bedryf.OFM is deel van Central Media Group, met sy hoofkantoor in Bloemfontein, en ‘n satellietateljee in Welkom.
Die radiostasie bedien die gegoede SEM 7-10 ekonomies-aktiewe mark met ‘n uitsaaigebied wat strek oor die Vrystaat, Noord-Kaap, Suid-Gauteng en Noordwes. OFM is sinoniem met die inwoners van Sentraal-Suid-Afrika en bedien die volledige spektrum van luisteraars, van stedelike werkende ma’s en pa’s tot professionele persone, asook landelike gemeenskappe en landbouprodusente.
Die radiostasie het ‘n ongelooflike lojale en ondersteunende gehoor. OFM is een van die radiostasies met die mees lojale luisteraars ten opsigte van tyd bestee aan radio luister in Suid-Afrika. Dit is te danke aan die musiekaanbod van die radiostasie – soos om luisteraars die kans te gun om hul gunsteling-liedjies op die Request Network te speel en Sentraal-Suid-Afrika se 30 grootste treffers op die Central SA Top 30 af te tel.
OFM beskik oor verskeie nisprogramme – insluitend ‘n toegewyde landbouprogram met drie bykomende landbounuusbulletins per dag, asook ‘n program wat net fokus op sakenuus, met vier bykomende ekonomiese nuusbulletins deur die dag.
Sport lê na aan die hart van OFM-luisteraars en dit is wat baie van Sentraal-Suid-Afrika verenig. Die radiostasie is ‘n trotse vennoot, borg en ondersteuner van die Cheetahs-, Griekwas- en Luiperds-rugbyspanne.
OFM is verbind aan die “real good life” en om terselfdertyd Sentraal-Suid-Afrikaners te help om hul beste lewens te lei. Inisiatiewe soos Let’s Move – ‘n wedloop wat daarop fokus om die stigma van geestesgesondheid te breek – en Chip for Charity – Sentraal-Suid-Afrika se mees geliefde gholfdag vir 18 jaar – maak ‘n verskil in die lewens van die stasie se gemeenskap. Dit spreek van OFM se mantra van omgee en lewens verander.