Media coverage of family planning and reproductive health issues improved in the first six months of this year compared to the second half of 2008, according to a comparative study released on Tuesday.
The two-phase study, which covered the two periods, analysed the content of four Arabic daily newspapers to gauge media interest and the space allocated for family planning and reproductive health, Higher Population Council (HPC) Secretary General Raeda Qutob said at a press conference yesterday.
She noted that newspaper content covering these issues more than doubled in the first half of the current year compared to the second half of 2008.
According to the HPC study, family planning issues constituted 1.2 per cent of the papers’ content during the first period, while the rate increased to 2.5 per cent in the second period.
The study, which covered Al Rai, Ad Dustour, Al Arab Al Yawm and Al Ghad, was conducted in two phases to compare the results and develop plans accordingly.
Qutob noted that the increase in covering reproductive health news is the result of a series of training courses and workshops that the HPC organised for journalists following the first phase of the study, in order to encourage them to write more about these subjects.
Figures released yesterday also indicated that the government was the main source for 36.7 per cent of the news published during the second phase of the study, followed by doctors for 21.7 per cent, researchers for 13.3 per cent and the HPC for 6.1 per cent.
In comparison, in the 2008 study, the government was the source for 48 per cent of the news, doctors for 13.1 per cent, researchers for 16 per cent, and the HPC for 7.6 per cent.
The study recommended that institutions concerned with family planning and reproductive health should work closely with the media and organise training courses and workshops for journalists.
Jordan Times