An Outbreak of Fearsome Photos and Headlines: Ebola and Local Newspapers in West Africa

“Let me get this right, the pilot wants to talk with me in the cockpit?” I asked the flight attendant, as the final passengers boarded the Liberia-bound jet during a refueling stop in west Africa. It was late March 2014, and a small Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak had been reported a few weeks earlier in Guinea. The half-read pile of malaria journal articles on my lap provided the flight crew sufficient evidence to conclude there was a “tropical medicine guy” on the flight, just what they needed for their current dilemma. As I walked toward the front of the plane, I had a suspicion what the upcoming topic of discussion would be. “When I told company headquarters I was not flying this plane to Monrovia, they threatened to fire me,” the pilot anxiously greeted me and then added, “You know the first case of Ebola in Liberia was diagnosed a few hours ago. I can have us headed back to the U.S., especially if you agree. Doc, what do you think, should we really be flying to Liberia right now?” With important malaria-related meetings awaiting me in Monrovia and an understanding of the minimal risk a single, unconfirmed case of EVD posed to the pilot and crew, I replied, “I think you have nothing to worry about” and went on to explain the fundamentals (of what was known at the time) of Ebola virus transmission. Our plane was Liberia bound a few minutes later and, although I did not realize it at the time, that would be the first of many instances of Fearbola I would encounter in west Africa. In public health, one of the first rules of managing an outbreak is to communicate early, truthfully, and effectively. For public health workers, this involves conveying appropriate information related to disease manifestations and prevention strategies. During such a time, the press is also in the business of conveying information, but may do so with a different set of principles and objectives. In early Autumn 2014, the word “Fearbola” was popularized as a description of the public’s reaction to the intensity and nature of the initial press coverage of a handful of EVD cases in the United States. Airline flights were cancelled, students were denied admission to school, and many with negligible risk were quarantined. Similar to how it dominated U.S. news reports, EVD also became a recurring front-page story in west African newspapers during the epidemic which has now killed more than 11,000 people in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. By perusing local newspapers during the first 2 weeks of the EVD epidemic in Liberia (with which my visit just happened to coincide)—and a year later during an EVD deployment in Sierra Leone—I learned that Ebola sensationalism was not the exclusive domain of Westerners or their media. Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, newspapers remain an important method of communication, with the trend of independent newspapers crowding out government-funded and controlled ones. These privately owned, independent newspapers may enjoy a less restrictive atmosphere than their political-mouthpiece counterparts, but often face challenges in establishing a circulation or advertising base sufficient to cover operating expenses. Consequently, some newspapers may resort to “gombo journalism” (where reporters receive money for covering a story) or “beat associations” (where an identical story appears in numerous newspapers under a different title), whereas others may favor, to use one observer’s description, the “trivialization and tabloidization of the news” to garner more subscription or advertising revenue. In late March and early April 2014, immediately after the announcement of the first case of EVD in Liberia, local newspapers displayed titillating front-page messages: “Ebola Terror Rages” (Figure 1) and “State of Emergency Looms As Ebola Fear Reaches New Heights.” Others, undaunted by an inability to obtain authentic photographs to accompany sensationalist headlines, borrowed images from the Internet. One image—likely from a horror movie—displayed a man clad in a bow tie, clutching his face as bloody eyeballs bulged from his sockets with the headline, “Ebola Claims Ten Lives.” (Figure 2). Another newspaper showed blood trickling down a heavily pock-marked face of what appears to be a mannequin (Figure 3). In addition, faulty public health messages were propagated from some periodicals, such as a front-page picture of a produce stand with the sign, “Please Use Gloves Before Touching Vegetables and Fruits” (Figure 4). Another errantly exclaimed: “More Fatalistic than AIDS, Kills in Seconds! MOH [Ministry of Health] Confirms Ebola in Liberia” (Figure 5). Editorialists exploited the situation to convey reproachful religious messages. One declared, “Ebola virus which is almost becoming a national plague. . .clearly signals the need for caution to Liberians to lead lives that will avoid the wrath of God descending on this nation through plagues like Ebola and judgment like that of the twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.” Another article titled, “Liberians need Jesus to combat Ebola,” featured the quotes of a local educator placing blame on the country’s sinners and their “total disregard for the Creator.” Such embellishments were not limited just to the initial weeks of the epidemic or to Liberia. In October 2014, one Sierra Leonean paper proclaimed, “Ebola victim rises from the dead,” alongside a dubious photograph probably *Address correspondence to Eric S. Halsey, Malaria Branch, Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30327. E-mail: ycw8@ cdc.gov