The Internews Health Journalism Network (HJN) was created in October 2020, almost one year into the global COVID-19 pandemic. The network builds on the momentum gained through the Information Saves Lives Rapid Response Fund launched by Internews a few months into the pandemic. The goal of this emergency fund was to support journalists and newsrooms in ramping up coverage of the pandemic and meeting daily operational costs. A special focus was given to independent news outlets and freelance reporters that were producing content for marginalized populations and communities across the world. Thousands of journalists applied for this fund. Many have joined this network.

The HJN aims to build a global and dynamic community of health media professionals that includes journalists, health communicators, investigative reporters, media entrepreneurs, data scientists, and digital health innovators. Whether they cover health all the time or only on occasion, our members are committed to meeting the health information needs of their audiences, staying on top of the constantly evolving health landscape, and countering mis- and dis- information.

The global pandemic brought health at the top of the news agenda and has obliged many reporters to keep up with fast-moving science. At the same time, it has offered us an opportunity to train more journalists in the basics of health and science reporting, foster collaboration among reporters, and build a supportive network that offers resources, opportunities and regular trainings.

You can meet some of our members under the Story section of this website.

Click the map below to access an interactive map where you can explore the distribution of countries where our members are from. The darker the shade of yellow, the greater the number of members from that country compared to other countries. Hold your mouse over a country to see how many members we currently have from that country.