Debate: Experts' responsibility in media coverage of the coronavirus
As a health researcher, do you have a duty to make statements to the media? What responsibility do experts have for corona coverage in the media? And can the relationship between journalist and expert become too close? Come to the debate on Thursday 5 November and hear the views of experts and journalists.
With hundreds of frontpage stories and radio and TV appearances, the two Aarhus University professors Søren Riis Paludan and Lars Østergaard are among the most cited experts in the Danish media when it comes to making statements about corona.
But how should a researcher navigate in the media when he or she is suddenly plunged into the middle of a pandemic, and must simultaneously provide serious advice and quick answers which affect the lives and day-to-day activities of many people? Should they always say yes when journalists call? Does their specific expertise also entail a special social responsibility? And how critical should journalists be when the country finds itself in its biggest health crisis in decades?
These are some of the questions that will be discussed at the debate on “Experts responsibility in media coverage of the coronavirus” on Thursday, 5 November 2020.
In addition to Søren Riis Paludan, professor of virology and immunology at the Department of Biomedicine and Lars Østergaard, professor of infectious diseases at the Department of Clinical Medicine, the other participants are Programme Editor at DR P1, Tine Rud Seerup, and editor of Altinget, Kasper Kaasgaard – both former fellows of the Constructive Institute – together with Inger Knude Larsen and Kresten Roland Johansen, both of whom are associate professors at the Danish School of Media and Journalism.
The Dean of the Faculty of Health, Lars Bo Nielsen, will open the debate which has been arranged in collaboration between the Constructive Institute and the Danish School of Media and Journalism.
See the programme and register here.
Due to the coronavirus situation, there are a limited number of places, so please register in good time so you do not miss out. Please note, that the debate will be held in Danish.
Contact
Head of Communications Ulla Krag Jespersen
Aarhus University, Health Communication
Mobile: (+45) 31 69 10 14
Email: ulla@au.dk