Welcome to our special section for helping journalists around the world improve their coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, you can find a variety of resources, including regional briefings, self-directed online courses and recordings of webinars in multiple languages. This online hub of courses and resources is part of an effort to assist journalists that started in 2020, immediately after the declaration of a pandemic. The Knight Center's Journalism Courses program has worked with UN agencies — specifically UNESCO, the United Nations Development Programme, and the World Health Organization — to produce COVID-19 resources for journalists, including massive open online courses, self-directed courses, and webinars in a variety of languages. It has already benefited thousands of journalists around the world.
This is a multilingual space, so in the section below, use the search and filter to find courses and webinars in your particular language. On this page you can also find a series of special briefings written by science and health journalists about coverage of COVID-19 in the Global South. The links to the briefings are below the courses and webinars.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Knight Center has offered massive open online courses (MOOCs) and webinars around coverage of COVID-19. Some of these programs were later turned into self-directed courses (SDCs) that can be taken at anytime, from anywhere in the world. You can search and filter by language to find offerings that best suit your needs. These webinars and courses are a Knight Center initiative in partnership with UNESCO, funded by the World Health Organization and UNESCO’s Multi-Donor Programme on Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists
The Knight Center’s Journalism Courses program has been publishing special briefings written by science and health journalists who have offered best practices and insights on covering COVID-19 in five different regions of the Global South: Latin America and the Caribbean, the Arab States, West Africa, Eastern Africa, and Southern Africa. The briefings are aimed at helping journalists (and particularly those who are new to covering health and science) navigate the latest challenges in reporting on the pandemic, including countering disinformation. They are being published as part of a Knight Center initiative in partnership with UNESCO and funded by the World Health Organization. Below, you will find a select group of briefings in English. To read more, including those in other languages, click the View All Briefings button.
Mandi Smallhorne |
Khalid Bencherif | Portuguese/PortuguêsPortuguese/PortuguêsPortuguese/PortuguêsPortuguese/PortuguêsPortuguese/PortuguêsPortuguese/Português
Mallary Tenore | Spanish/EspañolSpanish/EspañolSpanish/EspañolSpanish/EspañolSpanish/EspañolSpanish/Español
Khalid Bencherif | Arabic/عربيArabic/عربي
Khalid Bencherif | EnglishEnglishEnglishEnglishEnglishEnglishEnglish
Mandi Smallhorne | French/FrançaisFrench/FrançaisFrench/FrançaisFrench/Français
Mandi Smallhorne |
Mandi Smallhorne |
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public: Mythbusters (2022)
From WHO: English, عربي, 中文, Español, Français, русский
The World Health Organization (WHO) helps to separate fact from fiction concerning common claims made about coronavirus, from hand sanitizer to swimming.
Digital and Physical Safety: Reporting during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022
From CPJ: English, عربي, Español, Français, Português, русский
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) gives advice on how to stay safe physically and digitally when reporting in the age of COVID-19.
Tips for professional reporting on COVID-19 vaccines (2020)
From WHO: English, عربي, 中文, Español, Français, русский
The World Health Organization (WHO) provides tips to keep in mind when reporting on developing and available vaccines to fight COVID-19.
COVID-19: An informative guide: advice for journalists (2020)
From PAHO, WHO: English, Español
This guide focuses on using evidence-based information to report on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Covering COVID-19: Resources for Journalists
From ICFJ, IJNet: English
The Global Health Crisis Reporting Forum includes webinars, resources, opportunities for collaboration with other journalists and cutting-edge research on journalism and COVID-19.
Reporting and COVID-19: Tips for Journalists (2020)
From Dart Center: English
The Dart Center hosts online conversation about reporting during the coronavirus pandemic and provides tip sheets on each webinar topic.
Coronavirus: Information sources (2020)
From First Draft: English
Nonprofit organization First Draft provides a database of expert sources on coronavirus, including government departments and agencies, INGOs and NGOs and academic institutions.
The Impact of COVID-19 on Journalism in Emerging Economies and the Global South (2020)
From Thomson Reuters Foundation: English
This 2020 report focuses on how the COVID-19 crisis impacted journalists in emerging economies and the Global South, looking at personal safety and welfare, structure of newsrooms and disruption to business models, spread of fake news, threats to media freedom and more.
Reporting on COVID-19 Courses
From Thomson Foundation: English, Armenian, عربى, Español, Français, Українською, русский, Bahasa, नेपाली
The Thomson Foundation and its partners offered free online courses on COVID-19 along the topics of safety, verification, content and vaccines.
#CoronavirusFacts Alliance
From Poynter: English, Español, Português
The International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) at the Poynter Institute leads #CoronaVirusFacts, a collaborative project uniting more than 100 fact checkers around the world to fight mis- and disinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
PortalCheck
From UNESCO, EU, Chequeado, LatAm Chequea: English, Español, Guarani, Português
The PortalCheck regional hub provides verified information and resources compiled and created by fact-checkers from Latin America and the Caribbean.
This Covid-19 Courses & Resources hub is a project of the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas at the University of Texas at Austin, in partnership with UNESCO and funded by the European Union.
The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this Covid-19 Courses & Resources page do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The authors are responsible for the choice and the presentation of the facts contained in this Covid-19 Courses & Resources page and for the opinions expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit the Organization. This Covid-19 Courses & Resources page was created and maintained with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
