ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. (Sept. 25, 2024) — Poynter is pleased to announce that CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta will be the featured speaker at an upcoming webinar designed to show journalists how to debunk false narratives about vaccines and respiratory illnesses.
The webinar, presented in partnership with the Risk Less, Do More. campaign from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will show journalists the best sources for reliable data and legitimate information about vaccination rates and trends in the communities they cover.
Gupta is the multiple Emmy-award winning chief medical correspondent for CNN and host of the CNN podcast “Chasing Life.” In addition to his work for CNN, Gupta is an associate professor of neurosurgery at Emory University Hospital and associate chief of neurosurgery at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. He has won several awards for his humanitarian efforts, including the John F. Kennedy University Laureate award.
Joining Gupta on the panel will be Dr. Nirav D. Shah, principal deputy director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Dr. Céline Gounder, senior fellow and editor-at-large for public health at KFF; and Dan Wilson, a molecular biologist, science communicator and creator of the YouTube channel “Debunk the Funk.” The panel will be moderated by Poynter faculty member and MediaWise director Alex Mahadevan.
“We’re really thrilled to have someone of Dr. Gupta’s caliber because he’s someone who engenders a lot of trust, especially with vulnerable, older community members who are so adversely affected by vaccine misinformation,” Mahadevan said. “Not only is he a trusted journalist, he’s really good at taking complex, scientific topics and breaking them down.”
At a time when trust in journalists and public health officials is at an unfortunate low, he said, Gupta brings warmth and credibility to the public around these issues.
“His participation is going to ultimately help journalists get trustworthy information to the communities they serve,” Mahadevan said.
As flu season ramps up, journalists’ reporting can provide a powerful antidote to vaccine misinformation and help audiences get the facts they need to help them make wise decisions when it comes to understanding the respiratory illness landscape.
Of special concern this flu season are audiences that are considered at high risk for vaccine and disease misinformation and respiratory illnesses themselves — such as Black, Latino and pregnant people, those living in rural communities, and older adults.
The webinar will teach journalists skills that will help them spot and debunk misinformation that exists in the news and social media ecosystems that can harm communities. These experts will deliver facts on how journalists can actually go about debunking false narratives, and how they can weave those findings into their stories alongside verified data and facts.
The format will be an expert round-table, followed by a Q&A. The webinar is on the record; therefore, speakers can be quoted and their information used in conjunction with journalists’ own local coverage.
This event is free to journalists but registration is required. The webinar is set for Thursday, Oct. 3 at noon Eastern.
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