The Geneva Health Files Impact Report
Editorial Update
Hi,
What are the performance indicators for journalism? Like other media entrepreneurial initiatives, we are attempting to answer this question with some concrete numbers and less obvious markers.
In today’s edition, I am pleased to share with you some of the impact and the consequences of our journalism in the community we serve - the global health ecosystem in Geneva and beyond.
This is also a part of our wider effort to reach out to potential partners, funders and investors, to inform them about our mission and work.
If you wish to share your feedback as a reader and a user of this initiative, we would love to feature it in our communications. Just hit reply to this email.
Also see below, changes to our pricing and access policies, as we strive to make tweaks to our offerings. If you have concerns and questions, please write to me patnaik.reporting@gmail.com.
Cheers,
Priti
Feel free to write to us: genevahealthfiles@gmail.com. Follow us on X: @filesgeneva
I. THE GENEVA HEALTH FILES IMPACT REPORT
The following has been distilled from our recent experiences, testimonials from readers and our own analysis on the consequences of our journalism over the last four years in operations.
Our mission has been to promote accountability in global health policy-making through interdisciplinary, independent and critical journalism.
In recent months and years, our efforts have been focused on reporting on closed-door discussions on the international efforts on the recovery from COVID-19, including on-going legislative efforts at World Health Organization where countries are crafting new rules and laws to improve Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response (PPPR). Over the last two years specifically, our readership grew by 100%, while also registering a smaller growth in our paying subscriber base.
REPORTING ON TRADE
We continued with the reporting on the TRIPS Waiver discussions at World Trade Organization that effectively concluded in early 2024. We reported on the discussion between countries on the possible extension of the WTO Ministerial Decision to COVID-19 tests, treatments and diagnostics. During this period, we reported on 25 stories on the topic reporting on every twist and turn revealing interests in these discussions, in depth and detail, the hallmarks of our journalism. We are now in the process of updating our first book on this topic.
COVERING GLOBAL HEALTH NEGOTIATIONS
We have extensively reported the on-going negotiations at World Health Organization, doggedly chronicling the process over the last three years. We have published nearly 100 originally reported long-form stories on the topic. There were two track negotiations on PPPR at WHO. First, amendments to the International Health Regulations that concluded in June 2024, and second, on the negotiations towards a new Pandemic Treaty that is expected to continue till May 2025.
Specifically on reporting on the amendments to the International Health Regulations, we produced roughly 40 stories throughout the process that ended on June 1, 2024. We were the only media organization that reported on this set of negotiations with consistency, depth and persistence from start to finish.
These were particularly difficult to cover given the closed-door nature of the discussions and the technical issues involved. But we took every step to engage with diplomats, experts to get an accurate picture of these negotiations. We presented primary information of value to all those interested in these discussions. This meant spending long hours at WHO, often tracking late night discussions on several occasions.
Our work on this has come to be regarded as a resource for stakeholders in the diplomatic process not just for negotiators, but also others including civil society organizations, scholars, the private sector and students.
On the negotiations on the Pandemic Treaty, we have published 60 stories during 2022-2024 alone.
These negotiations are set to continue till May 2025 and we are currently trying to raising funds to finance the costs of production. Given tremendous reader interest, we are committed to continue reporting on this topic.
Although there is high interest in the outcome of the negotiations of the Pandemic Treaty, there are fewer sources of information on these discussions.
Geneva Health Files has carved a unique niche in reporting these treaty negotiations as being essentially the only consistent media commentator backed by facts on the ground on account of reporting directly from the field like few others stakeholders do.
We have had significant impact on the negotiations merely by bringing closed door discussions to light. On several occasions we were threatened subtly and directly for reporting on political dynamics in these negotiations. But we stood our ground. The traction to our work and the readership has only grown during this period.
We published documents, letters to add richness and detail to our reporting.
A DIVERSITY OF VOICES
Our journalism has sought to bring a diversity of voices and to challenge prevailing narratives with facts. Our journalism has been important, also at a time of rampant disinformation. These negotiations at WHO have been under intense scrutiny from right-wing groups and well-funded disinformation campaigns.
Our timely reporting has pushed for more transparency in these negotiations to improve accountability and greater engagement with the public in such processes.
We have not self-censored but exercised careful editorial judgement in a highly polarised atmosphere, while being mindful of the sensitivity of the diplomatic space. (On sourcing, we protect the anonymity of sources and preserve the essence of the diplomatic process without betraying our responsibility to our readers.)
We spent hours on the field tracking negotiations that often went on till wee hours in the morning. We quickly reported and wrote on the discussions in order to provide value to our readers and have had a real-time impact on the discussions.
From publishing stories on key negotiators being pulled out due to alleged political pressure, to reporting on dynamics between key group of countries, the timeliness of our publishing and reporting, has had a decisive impact on bringing key information to light when it mattered. We often worked through weekends and long evenings, simply to get information out in time given how quickly these discussions moved during this period in Geneva. We are being seen as neutral observers who hold a mirror to the state of play, without fear or favor.
AUDIO AND WORKSHOP OFFERINGS
We published several six podcast episodes on this subject in addition to publishing timely stories on the newsletter. Audio offerings made the technical content more accessible.
We also conducted several workshops to further the understanding of our editorial output. We took part in several discussions based on our editorial expertise on these topics.
INFORMATION AS POWER
International diplomacy is a deeply unequal field. Our stories have informed the work and considerations of many countries, but particularly countries with smaller delegations typically developing countries, but not only. We are providing information in real-time that is helping countries in these negotiations. So, information is power, and our journalism has sought to contribute to a level-playing field for all countries and actors involved in these discussions.
Our journalism has also been valued by big, developed countries for our thoroughness, nuance, objectivity and detail. This is evidenced by the growing readership. Countries do get informed of each other’s thinking and positions by way of our journalism.
BRINGING IN THE EXPERTS
Increasingly, we have interest from high-level experts in global health to write for us on complex issues demonstrating the reputation and reach we have built. We published several guest essays during this period on these topics. Perspectives from experts add to the overall richness of the output from Geneva Health Files on these topics. We presented these in a timely manner to serve as a resource and reference for negotiators.
We also conducted, convened several events dedicated to these reporting topics by making available and accessible our editorial expertise, and those of other experts involved in these discussions.
EDUCATIONAL VALUE
The reporting on these negotiations also has acquired educational value given that there are very few other resources if any, chronicling and reporting on these negotiations like the way we have.
Apart from reporting on the political aspects of these discussions, we have also reported on the legal and substantive aspects of these negotiations demystifying complex matters in these discussions also for the general reader, in addition to being of value to the experts.
The educational value of our journalism is also evident by the number of online lectures we have provided based on our reporting for Geneva Health Files at a dozen universities across countries including Australia, Belgium, Canada, India, Japan, The Netherlands, Switzerland, USA and the UK.
Our efforts have been recognized for innovation in the media, profiled by media research initiatives including at the Oxford Internet Institute at Oxford University and the Global Investigative Journalism Network. We were also profiled in a project on innovation in Science Communication.
We have been invited to numerous panel discussions at both journalism, and global health conferences following our reporting at Geneva Health Files.
During this period, we also worked on research projects for civil society organizations, based on our journalism, including for the Geneva Global Health Hub, Stop AIDS, among others. We have consistently been cited in the media and in academia with crosslinking to our reporting.
Write to us if you want to tell us the value this journalism brings to you! (Get in touch at patnaik.reporting@gmail.com, or genevahealthfiles@gmail.com)
II. PRICING CHANGES
The monthly and annual pricing of our newsletters have been revised upwards slightly in view of our increased output over the past six months. We are also heading into a busy news cycle notably on account of the negotiations towards a new Pandemic Agreement, in addition to other on-going developments in Global Health in Geneva.
In the coming months, we will also be experimenting with a harder paywall while we reassess our pricing strategies. While most of our exclusive content is offered to paying subscribers first, some of our content continues to be freely accessible.
Although we reach 6,000 plus readers across nearly 140 countries, a small percentage are paying subscribers who support our work directly. We need more readers and institutions to support our work. Without adequate support from readers, it will be difficult to build and sustain this initiative in a punishing news cycle and in an expensive city.
Moving towards a harder paywall, where less of our original content will be freely accessible, is one of the measures we would potentially consider in order to meet our reporting and production costs.
There are also changes to our banking information on account of a new legal structure. It should not affect payments from new subscribers. Existing subscribers might have to update our details at the time of renewals, although most such transactions are automated and should be seamless.
Please get in touch with us if you have questions, or are facing difficulties.
Thank you for understanding.
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