Guardians of health discourse: Analysis of sourcing practices of foreign correspondents in the coverage of COVID-19 pandemic in Africa

The scholarly fascination with sourcing practices is a long tradition in media and communication studies due to the influence of sources over the production of news stories and in shaping the news narratives. In health journalism, the sourcing techniques often pit expert sources against citizen voices. In this study we investigated the sourcing practices of foreign correspondents and the challenges of reporting the COVID-19 crisis in Africa. The journalists (n = 18) interviewed for this study were drawn from various international media organisations that cut across radio, television, print and wire services with strong presence in Nairobi, Kenya. Using an inductive thematic analysis approach, the results showed that the reporters relied mainly on official sources that prioritised the use of statistical evidence of mortality and infection rates to frame the pandemic narratives on the continent. Although the journalists acknowledged the significance of lay persons as sources, they were used sparingly to mostly (in)validate government claims and highlight the impact of the pandemic on the people. Furthermore, criteria used by the reporters to select framers of the health discourse differed from expert and non-expert sources. The sourcing and reporting challenges in the pandemic coverage ranged from limited training of most journalists on health journalism to difficulty in getting some sources to adapt or adjust to changes in journalistic routines occasioned by the pandemic. The findings illuminated and demonstrated the need for balanced sourcing practices in health journalism and the implication for health communication and public understanding of science in crisis moments.