Even when reporters use clear language, they can cause confusion by assuming that their audience is well informed about public health issues. For instance, references simply to antiretrovirals or SARS or STDs or even Bird 'Flu without explaining what they are – and why they matter – could perplex some readers, listeners and viewers.
The answer is to weave in explanatory background as the story moves along, eg: “Bird ‘flu, the avian influenza H5N1, which has spread rapidly among birds across the world and threatens to cause a major human epidemic if it transmutes into a human-to-human strain…” It is also vital to make stories relevant to your reader, as well as clearly understandable. Imagine him asking “Why should I care about this?”
A story about damage to the ozone layer, for instance, could seem removed from peoples' daily lives unless the reporter explains the potential health threat in human terms. People will care about an issue provided they are given reasons to care. "Think global - write local" should be the motto here.
One way of doing this is to humanise your story. Leading off with a personal angle is especially effective with featurish stories. For example, a report on air pollution in Santiago, Chile, begins: “Francisco Fuentes sits by the fence in the playground of his Santiago school, unable to join his friends playing because he can't stop wheezing.”
It goes on to explain that Francisco is among the one-in-five children who are likely to suffer respiratory ailments, according to a published study on the air pollution threat. Issues affecting public health also affect the economy. Look out for these angles. Are pollution-related illnesses putting up health care costs? Are workers less productive because of pollution? Are farm yields down? What will be the cost of cleaning up?
But don’t exaggerate a story's significance, or you will lose credibility with readers and sources alike. It should be based on sound science, not wild claims and speculation.
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