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Library

Topic: COVID-19 & Long COVID
Video

Covering Long Covid: Beyond ‘mystery’ and misunderstanding

NYU, Kavli Foundation

At this Kavli Conversation, journalist Betsy Ladyzhets and Long Covid clinician Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez discussed best practices for covering this complex disease. They talked about personal experiences reporting on and treating Long Covid, issues in past media coverage, story ideas, and more. They also answered questions from NYU students in the Science, Health, and Environmental Reporting Program.
Resource Database / Guide

CDC Museum COVID-19 Timeline

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Smithsonian Institution

This timeline, compiled by researchers at the CDC Museum and Smithsonian Institution, provides a recap of important moments in the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. and around the world. It starts in December 2019 and extends through 2022. Items on the timeline include important research, government actions to contain the virus' spread, case and death milestones, and more.
Newsletter

Smart, useful, science stuff about COVID-19

Freelance science writer and editor Robin Lloyd's COVID-19 newsletter, which ran from spring 2020 through fall 2022, regularly shared science writing about the pandemic. The newsletter's archive offers a wealth of great articles covering all aspects of COVID-19.
Blog

Analysis and updates from the COVID Tracking Project

The COVID Tracking Project

The COVID Tracking Project was a volunteer organization launched from The Atlantic and dedicated to collecting and publishing data about COVID-19 in the U.S. The organization's archive of blog posts, written by staff and volunteers, cover how it collected, analyzed, and interpreted data from public health agencies.
Newsletter

Your Local Epidemiologist

Katelyn Jetelina is an epidemiologist, public health researcher, and science communicator. Her newsletter started early in the pandemic as a way to deliver COVID-19 updates, and has since expanded to other topics such as other infectious diseases, reproductive health, and gun violence. She writes, "My main goal is to “translate” the ever-evolving public health science so that people will be well-equipped to make evidence-based decisions."
Newsletter

COVID-19 Weather Report

The People's CDC

This newsletter from the People's CDC shares news and updates about COVID-19 and related public health issues. It focuses on "the latest information about how COVID-19 is spreading and the best ways to protect yourself and others from its many effects," along with new research, commentary, and opportunities for advocacy.
Video

Wastewater surveillance for detecting COVID-19

The People's CDC

"On August 10, The People’s CDC hosted Marc Johnson. He led us through a webinar on the importance of wastewater data and how it can aid the continued monitoring of COVID-19 pandemic." Johnson is a microbiologist and immunologist at the University of Missouri who leads the state's wastewater surveillance program and conducts research. He discussed how wastewater samples are collected and analyzed, how to understand the resulting data, and more. A video recording and transcript of the webinar are available.
Video

Covering long COVID, the hidden epidemic

Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ)

"Up to one in seven people in the U.S. have had long COVID, according to one of the most recent estimates. But it’s still getting relatively little coverage, not nearly capturing the scale of this debilitating condition for which no approved treatments exist. In this webinar, we heard from a rehabilitation physician who specializes in treating people with long COVID and a journalist who has been living with the condition. Watch the recording to learn what you need to know about long COVID, best practices in covering it and the importance of speaking with people who are dealing with it." A transcript of the webinar is also available.
Resource Database / Guide

Tipsheet: Covering long COVID

This tipsheet shares tips and resources from a session at NICAR, the data journalism conference, about covering Long COVID informed by data, records, and patient experiences. The summary of the session reads: "Long COVID is a public health crisis: Millions of Americans have been impacted by this debilitating condition, many of them facing lost work, hard-to-access medical care and other challenges. This session will introduce you to the basics of covering Long COVID from a data/investigative perspective, including recommendations for datasources, records requests and patient interviews."
Source database

Long COVID source list

This database shares information from people with long COVID and experts on the condition who are interested in talking to the media. It includes four categories of sources: 1. Patients who also identify as experts on long COVID and/or advocates for their fellow patients; 2. Patients who don’t identify as experts, but are willing to speak to the media about their own lived experience; 3. Other experts, including scientists, clinicians, and advocates with expertise in specific areas of Long COVID research, care, and related issues; 4. Related conditions and experiences, including patient-advocates with conditions similar to long COVID (ME/CFS, dysautonomia, etc.) and caregivers for long COVID patients.
Resource Database / Guide

Body Politic’s comprehensive guide to covering long COVID

Body Politic, USC Annenberg

"After a year of writing about long COVID, interviewing patients, and being interviewed myself, I created a comprehensive guide for journalists covering the long-term symptoms of COVID-19," author Fiona Lowenstein writes in an accompanying article at the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism's website. "To understand more about what we can learn from the past, I talked with veteran health journalists David Tuller, Linda Villarosa, and Julie Rehmeyer, as well as New York Times editorial board member Mara Gay, who is recovering from long COVID. I also spoke with patients and activists to learn more about how patients want reporters to tell their stories."
Science writing example

Meet the scientist at the center of the covid lab leak controversy

CASW

Jane Qiu, an independent science writer based in Beijing, won a 2022 AAAS Kavli Award for this profile of virologist Shi Zhengli, a central figure in the global debate about how the COVID-19 pandemic began. The story was also featured during a plenary session at ScienceWriters2022 discussing the coronavirus’ origins.
Video

CASW New Horizons in Science session recordings — ScienceWriters2023

CASW

If you missed ScienceWriters2023, the annual meeting of the National Association of Science Writers (NASW) and Council for the Advancement of Science Writing (CASW), you can check out recordings of five sessions from CASW’s Science + Science Writing program on the organization’s YouTube channel. The sessions include covering Long COVID, the toxic train disaster in Ohio, tracking indoor air quality after a wildfire, a primer on the different types of applied AI, and NASA's recent report on unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs). Each session features scientific experts as well as journalists discussing best practices for covering a particular topic.
Article

Curbing the confusion: Strategies for covering the latest COVID booster shot approvals

AHCJ

As fall approaches and the FDA and CDC evaluate updated vaccines for COVID-19, "it’s crucial [that reporters] work to dispel any confusion about the boosters and provide their audience with contextual information about how booster shot recommendations are made." In this article from the Association of Health Care Journalists, journalist Tara Haelle gives background on the vaccine review and recommendation process and offers tips for accurate coverage.
Article

How to report on the COVID-19 uptick when the public says ‘meh’

AHCJ

"In this late stage of the pandemic, it may feel challenging to keep COVID-19 stories fresh for a fatigued public. But COVID-19 is here to stay, so it may help to think of COVID-19 stories much as you would your annual flu stories: Even if it feels as though you’ve written it before, your audience needs the information again about how rates are trending, tips on reducing risk of infection, and what’s going on with vaccines and boosters."
Science writing example

A room, a bar and a classroom: How the coronavirus is spread through the air

CASW

This visual story, published by the Spanish-language newspaper El País, provides an overview of COVID-19 risk in indoor spaces and how different safety measures may help, based on an estimation tool developed by atmospheric chemist José Luis Jiménez. Co-authors Mariano Zafra and Javier Salas won a AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Award, an Ortega y Gasset award, and a Malofiej award for the story in 2021.
Video

A critical reflection on media coverage of SARS-CoV-2’s origin

CASW, NASW

"Media coverage of SARS-CoV-2’s origins serves as a fascinating case study that has relevance for other scientific controversies. At the ScienceWriters2022 conference in Memphis, Tenn. in October 2022, CASW convened a panel to discuss how journalists have addressed the special challenges of this highly politicized story. Participants included three journalists who have covered the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic and a scholar who studies the interplay of biomedical science, politics, law, and public reason. Co-organized by Beijing-based independent science writer Jane Qiu and Jon Cohen, senior correspondent for Science, the panel included Katherine Eban, contributing editor for Vanity Fair, and Benjamin Hurlbut of Arizona State University. Deborah Blum, director of the Knight Science Journalism program at MIT, moderated the discussion. Recording of the session was possible through the generous support of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute."
Blog

COVID-19 Data Dispatch

The COVID-19 Data Dispatch is a weekly newsletter and blog focused on tracking the COVID-19 pandemic, written by Betsy Ladyzhets. It includes news updates, data sources, best practices, and more.