Engaging Nepali Journalists in Good Road Safety Reporting: Evaluation of the Impact of Training Workshops

Abstract

Most road traffic crash reports published in Nepali media provide little information about their causes, impacts, or preventability. Three workshops involving 31 journalists from diverse media platforms were held using published World Health Organisation resources, to provide training in good road safety reporting. Participants were invited to complete a survey exploring their motivation for participation and knowledge gained. Thirteen (42%) participants responded, reporting the acquisition of new knowledge for content generation, finding facts, active application of learning, and purposeful communication, and an intention to apply the skills learned in their work. A before and after assessment of 94 media outputs from workshop participants found an improvement in the use of story angles and ideas recommended in WHO resources. The study suggests that journalists are interested in developing their road safety reporting skills and that running such workshops has the potential to improve responsible reporting and the promotion of road safety.