A video conference held at the US Embassy in Yaounde on February 25, 2016.

A Digital Video Conference, DVC, on the theme, “The Challenges of Communicating Science: A Journalist’s Perspective,” held on Thursday, February 25, 2016, in Yaounde. Organised by the United States Embassy in Cameroon, the video conference brought together journalists from the national and international media in the country.

The Africa Regional Services Health Reporting speaker, Marie Doezema, led the discussions with journalists. The focus was the importance of covering health, what it means for the local journalist, challenges and tips for journalists covering health issues. The goal, according to her, was to ensure free and easy access to quality health information so that individuals, communities and governments can make informed decisions to protect, improve and save lives.

She also gave inspiring examples of two winners of last year’s International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ) Reporting Prize. The award recognises two journalists annually for news coverage that makes a difference in the lives of people around the world. During the close to two-hour video conference, journalists from the print and electronic media shared their ideas and experiences on health reporting in a lively debate. They also resolved to improve reporting skills in order to meet the challenges of health reporting.

Marie Doezema is a journalist with over 10 years of international experience in magazines, newspapers, radio, web and TV. She got her start at a small literary journal in Paris and has since worked as a writer, editor and producer in the U.S, France, Japan and Qatar. Marie Doezema holds a Master’s Degree in Science and Health Writing from the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University. She was recently Paris, France correspondent for various international publications and also producer for an African news agency.