Chennai, January 20, 2017: Journalists from across India, all recipients of the REACH Lilly MDR-TB Partnership Media Fellowship Programme, attended an orientation workshop held in Chennai last week. The Fellowship Programme, now in its seventh year, is intended to support journalists to improve the quality and frequency of media reporting on TB.

Ten Fellowships were awarded under the Local Language Programme and one under the National Fellowship Programme. This year’s Fellows came from diverse publications, including Dhar News, Dainik Janabhumi, Hindustan, Patrika and People’s Samachar, from different parts of India like Odisha, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, and New Delhi. One Fellow was awarded the National Media Fellowship, 2017.

All the 11 fellows attended the interactive workshop, which was organized to help them enhance their health journalism skills and knowledge of TB and was facilitated over by Senior Public Health Expert, Dr. Jaya Shreedhar. TB experts Dr. Ramya Ananthakrishnan, Executive Director, REACH (Resource Group for Education and Advocacy for Community Health), Dr. Suresh Varadarajan, Associate Professor, Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute, Dr. Priyakanta Nayak, Senior Medical Officer, REACH, Dr. Karikalan, National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis and Ms Anupama Srinivasan, Deputy Project Director, REACH, spoke to the Fellows on different issues pertaining to Tuberculosis like TB and Diabetes, Drug Resistant TB, Social Determinants of TB, and TB Diagnosis. REACH also facilitated an interactive session between TB patients and the Fellows, to help journalists understand the personal experience of the disease as well as the need for sensitive and ethical reporting. The Fellows will be reporting on Tuberculosis between January and April to bring out the ground-level issues of TB.

The Local Language Media Fellowship Programme for regional journalists, a byproduct of the REACH Lilly MDR-TB Partnership Media Initiative, was initiated in 2010 to improve the quality and frequency of reporting on one of the deadliest diseases plaguing our country. In the year 2013, REACH started the National Media Fellowship Programme for English and Hindi language journalists.

Every year, after a rigorous screening and evaluation process, at least ten Fellowships are awarded to mid-career journalists to explore locally relevant TB-related issues. Along with the workshop to improve their knowledge on TB, the Fellows have access to a range of resources on TB as well as continued mentoring through the Fellowship process.

On returning to their newsrooms, Fellows are encouraged to travel within their states or districts, learning about the specific TB scenario there, meeting those whose lives have been affected by TB and identifying the stories they wish to tell. All Fellows receive financial assistance to support their travel and research expenses. Over a period of three months, Fellows are responsible for researching and writing a minimum of three high-quality, in-depth stories on a TB-related theme or issue.

The workshop was held at Regenta Central Deccan Hotel, Chennai on 19-20 January, 2017.

REACH Lilly MDR-TB Partnership Media Fellowship Programme

Recipients, 2016-17

National Media Fellow 2017