Abstract

The media have always been invited to collaborate in health promotion programs. In Morocco, although the Higher Council for Audiovisual Communication has drawn up a recommendation defining the rules governing the treatment of health topics, conflicts between Physicians’ and journalists have not ceased. The aim of our study was to describe and analyze the relationship between Physicians’ as initial emitters of health information and traditional media journalists as relay transmitters, and their collaboration in the production of health topics in these traditional media (TM).  Among 417 doctors participating in our survey, the majority 324 (77.7%) had no direct relations with TM journalists/institutions; 168 (40.3%) had received requests from journalists to collaborate on health topics; 333 (79.9%) had never written about health topics in TM; Physicians’ who had been involved more than 10 times in the 12 months preceding the survey accounted for only 3 (0.7%) in both the written press and radio, and no involvement (0%) in TV; around 90% of respondents had never received training in techniques for communicating with the media to promote health. Our study shows that the physicians surveyed are a poor collaborator in the production of health topics in the TM. Our work takes on a particular interest considering that no similar study has been conducted in Morocco, and it will enrich the national and international scientific literature in the field of health communication. In practical terms, it could serve as a scientific basis for advocating improved basic and continuing training programs for doctors in communication and, in particular, in relations with the media, in order to establish a collaborative and effective approach to health promotion.

Keywords:

Traditional media, Physicians, Journalists, Health promotion, Morocco

• Received: 21 February 2024
• Accepted:  19  March 2024
• Published: 02 April 2024