"The new coronavirus that causes COVID-19 can spread rapidly and cause a lot of harm. But if communities respond appropriately and quickly, it is possible to limit its spread and the damage it causes. Mass media and communication have an absolutely vital role to play in this effort. Media can: provi
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de audiences with crucial information on how to stay safe and help prevent the spread of the coronavirus; keep people up to date on the support services available and how to access them; counter dangerous rumours and incorrect information; hold authorities to account over their responsibility to protect the population; provide a platform for those affected or at risk to raise their concerns and needs, ask questions, and explore solutions; reassure and motivate people to help themselves and others. BBC Media Action has developed this handbook to help media support their audiences to face this health emergency." (Introduction)
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"Drawing on a wide range of case studies addressing how people can be ‘othered’ in contemporary media, the chapters focus on analyses of hateful discourses about disability on Reddit, news coverage of disability and education, media access of individuals with disabilities, the logic of memes and
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brain tumour on Twitter, celebrity and Down Syndrome on Instagram, disability in TV drama, the metaphor of disability for the nation as well as an autoethnography of treatment of breast cancer. Providing a much-needed global perspective, Disability, Media, and Representations examines the relationship between self-representation and representations in either reinforcing or debunking myths around disability, and ways in which academic discourse can be differently articulated to study the relationship between media and disability." (Publisher description)
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"Despite major advances in vaccination over the past century, resurgence of vaccine-preventable illnesses has led the World Health Organization to identify vaccine hesitancy as a major threat to global health. Vaccine hesitancy may be fueled by health information obtained from a variety of sources,
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including new media such as the Internet and social media platforms. As access to technology has improved, social media has attained global penetrance. In contrast to traditional media, social media allow individuals to rapidly create and share content globally without editorial oversight. Users may self-select content streams, contributing to ideological isolation. As such, there are considerable public health concerns raised by anti-vaccination messaging on such platforms and the consequent potential for downstream vaccine hesitancy, including the compromise of public confidence in future vaccine development for novel pathogens, such as SARS-CoV-2 for the prevention of COVID-19. In this review, we discuss the current position of social media platforms in propagating vaccine hesitancy and explore next steps in how social media may be used to improve health literacy and foster public trust in vaccination." (Abstract)
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"The Children’s Radio Foundation (CRF) currently trains youth reporters at 68 radio stations across six African countries (The Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Ivory Coast, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia) to produce weekly radio shows and monthly outreach activities [...] This toolkit ha
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s three main goals: 1. to bring COVID-19 into focus and high on your agenda; 2. to introduce you to remote reporting and broadcasting and how it works; 3. to equip you to get other young people and adults in your community to become passionate about and open to share their COVID-19 stories." (Goals)
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"In this paper, we provide recommendations for protecting freedom of expression and opinion and the right to impart and receive information to enable governments to fight the COVID-19 health crisis in a rights-respecting manner. There will be an aftermath to the COVID-19 outbreak and the measures go
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vernments put in place right now will determine what it will look like. The recommendations outlined below will help ensure that the rule of law, and the rights to freedom of expression and opinion, as well as the right to receive and to impart information, are protected throughout this crisis and in the future. Under no circumstances should any government allow people’s fundamental rights to fall victim to this pandemic." (Executive summary)
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"In view of providing consolidated and authentic information on the global crisis to the masses in an interesting and interactive mode, the NCSTC in association with Dr. Anamika Ray Memorial Trust (ARMT) has brought out multimedia guide carrying important information on A-to-Z of COVID 19." (Preface
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"En un escenario ideal, se contaría con tiempo para hacer planes, establecer una estrategia de comunicación y una guía de acción. Pero situaciones como estas, requieren aptitudes inmediatas para comunicarse con el público. La comunicación de riesgos es un componente integral de la gestión de
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riesgos para la salud pública y una capacidad básica en el marco del Reglamento Sanitario Internacional (RSI). A continuación, se presentan algunas sugerencias, principios y plantillas para orientarlos. Proteger la salud y prevenir muertes que podemos evitar es la misión que nos convoca a todos. Una comunicación oportuna y transparente, con información correcta y basada en evidencias, pero también honesta y franca, con empatía y comprensión por las preocupaciones del público, será fundamental para que las personas conozcan los riesgos de la COVID-19 y sigan las recomendaciones de las autoridades para proteger su salud y la de sus seres queridos." (Introducción)
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"As a component of the USAID Jordan Media Assessment (JMA), this White Paper aims to assess the Government of Jordan’s (GOJ) and the media’s response to the current COVID-19 crisis starting in mid-February 2020 through May 1, 2020. This includes the methods used for disseminating messages to the
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public through traditional and digital tools, as well as the means of combating misinformation. In addition, the paper provides an overview of the role of traditional media outlets in shaping public opinion, influencing public behavior, combating rumors and spreading information and facts. Within this short period, independent research, social media discourse, and commentaries by activists and academics indicate that the GOJ’s proactive communications efforts on the COVID-19 crisis are contributing to rebuilding a level of trust between the State and society at large, while increasing transparency." (Page 2)
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"This resource offers a tool for news organizations to adopt safety protocols that respond to the extraordinary circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The document seeks to empower commissioning editors to improve and adapt safety practices so the pandemic is covered professionally and in a
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way that minimizes risk. This document pays special attention to working with freelancers, including best practices around key issues like accreditation, PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), insurance and expenses. In addition, you may wish to consult the Freelance Journalist Safety Principles, a set of safety practices for news organizations and freelancers." (Introduction)
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"Key trends: Fueling the pandemic, a dangerous “disinfodemic” has arisen; Against soaring demand for verified information, independent media have risen to the challenge; Technology companies are taking action, but more transparency is needed; Some regulatory measures have led to new restrictions
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of human rights; To keep the public informed, journalists are putting their own safety at risk; The economic impact of COVID-19 may pose an existential threat to journalism; Amid the crisis, there are new opportunities to stand up for journalism." (Page 1)
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"In this report, we use survey data collected in late March and early April 2020 to document and understand how people in six countries (Argentina, Germany, South Korea, Spain, the UK, and the US) accessed news and information about COVID-19 in the early stages of the global pandemic, how they rate
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the trustworthiness of the different sources and platforms they rely on, how much misinformation they say they encounter, and their knowledge of and responses to the coronavirus crisis. We show that news use is up across all six countries, and most people in most countries are using either social media, search engines, video sites, and messaging applications (or combinations of these) to get news and information about coronavirus. In all six countries, people with low levels of formal education are much less likely to say that they rely on news organisations for news and information about coronavirus, and more likely to rely on social media and messaging applications. In Argentina, South Korea, Spain, and the US, young people are much more likely to rely on social media, and in Germany, the UK, and the US, to rely on messaging applications groups." (Executive summary)
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"Lesson one: Put people and principles at the centre of COVID-19 decision-making, not politics. Lesson two: Reframe discussions about responsibility in a pandemic so that those who are considered vulnerable are a priority rather than an afterthought. Lesson three: Prepare ways to share sophisticated
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information quickly in complex, but predictable emergencies so that knowledge, trust, and resources in the population can be leveraged when it happens. Lesson four: Have communication channels and cooperation plans for all governmental and non-governmental authorities and organisations so that the response is coordinated and understandable to the community. Lesson five: Find ways for people to get involved and have a meaningful say in the response: make this the cornerstone of any COVID-19 communication plan. Lesson six: Work to re-engage communities as participating partners; have mechanisms to leverage local and volunteer groups to maximise their knowledge expertise to increase the effectiveness of the COVID-19 response. Lesson seven: Move to more participatory, two-way communications and feedback with vulnerable communities; find out what channels they really use, not just what we want them to use. Lesson eight: Empower local agencies and communities to take a lead role in the response, so they can truly supplement the response and take charge at a local level." (Summary of lessons learned, page 2)
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"This guide focuses on medicines and medical devices. It aims to provide journalists with the tools and knowledge to independently assess the evidence, critically appraise the risk-benefit ratio of any given product or policy, and expose corruption and malpractice. It can be read as a textbook, one
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chapter at a time, or used selectively to support your work. Investigating behind-the-scenes is consuming but rewarding. As we’ll discuss in Chapter 2, combining the methods and standards of muckraking and Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) can be highly effective. EBM, defined as “the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients,” has been constantly revised to include a wider public health approach. But as Students4BestEvidence, a network of students from around the world who are interested in learning more about evidence-based health care, put it: “It’s about asking the right questions and using the best research evidence to answer those questions.” EBM is an approach that matches the ethics and standards of investigative journalism." (Introduction, page 8-9)
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"This report was commissioned by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to examine women’s representation in COVID-19/coronavirus newsgathering and news coverage in India, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, the UK, and the US. It is rooted in a computational news content analysis of 11,913 publications an
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d 1.9 million stories between 1st March and 15th April 2020 undertaken by Media Ecosystems Analysis Group; an in-depth qualitative portrayal analysis of 175 highly ranked COVID-19/coronavirus stories across the six countries; quantitative analysis of eight public-facing bespoke Google surveys, as well as multi-country secondary surveys; a pronoun content analysis of COVID-19 headlines; story frames analyses using Google’s news search engine, the Internet TV News Archive in 2020 and the GDELT Project global online news archive for 2017 to 2020; and interrogation of a number of global statistical databases [...] The report has examined the news coverage of the COVID-19/coronavirus story through the lenses of three indicators of gender equality: women as sources of news expertise; news stories leading with women protagonists; and coverage of gender equality issues. The insights from the report have led to the creation of 21 recommendations which aim to support news providers who wish to amplify the substantially muted voices of women in news coverage of the COVID19/coronavirus story. The report has uncovered a substantial bias towards men’s perspectives in the newsgathering and news coverage of this pandemic across both the global north (the UK and US) and the global south (India, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa). This bias operates against a backdrop of women’s effective political invisibility within the COVID-19-related decision-making process in the countries analyzed and the unique socioeconomic, health and psychological challenges that women face globally. Every individual woman’s voice in the news on COVID19 is drowned out by the voices of at least three, four, or five men. The women who are given a platform in the COVID-19/coronavirus story are rarely portrayed as authoritative experts or as empowered individuals but more frequently as sources of personal opinion or as victims/people affected by the disease." (Executive summary)
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"La pandemia de la COVID-19 ha generado una crisis sanitaria y comunicativa sin precedentes. A través de las plataformas digitales, se ha producido una ingente circulación de información falsa, inexacta o descontextualizada so-bre el coronavirus. Entre ella, cabe destacar los rumores, bulos y teo
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rías conspirativas sobre (1) el origen, expansión y letalidad del virus; (2) las re-comendaciones y prácticas curativas; y (3) la gestión de la pandemia por parte de las administraciones públicas y organismos internacionales. En el actual escenario de infodemia, esta investigación aborda de qué forma 8 organizaciones de fact-checking han empleado Twitter como herramienta para combatir la desinformación en tiempos de la COVID-19: Agência Lupa (Brasil), Chequeado (Argentina), Maldita.es y Newtral (España), Colombia-Check (Colombia), Ecuador Chequea (Ecuador), El Sabueso – Animal Político (México) y Cotejo (Venezuela). Entre los meses de marzo y junio de 2020 estas organizaciones han publicado de forma sostenida en Twitter, obteniendo elevadas cifras de engagement en forma de retuits y favoritos. Se han incluido múltiples hashtags sobre la COVID-19, incluyendo aquellas etiquetas promovidas por LATAM Chequea y la IFCN (#CoronaVirusFacts y #DatosCoronaVirus) y otros hashtags genéricos dirigidos al gran público. Los contenidos relacionados con la COVID-19 han sido los más viralizados por los usuarios." (Resumen)
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"Beratende und andere Fachkräfte erleben während der Coronapandemie eine nie dagewesene Herausforderung, da ihre eigene Lebenssituation und zugleich die Lebenswelt ihrer Klient*innen sich grundlegend geändert hat. In besonderen Krisenzeiten wie bei einem Lockdown, Kontaktbeschränkungen oder Isol
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ation/Quarantäne kommen dabei neue und ungewohnte Stressoren hinzu, die auf Nähe-Distanz-Regulierung sowie Intimität einen großen Einfluss haben. Hier besteht eine doppelte Herausforderung, nämlich zum einen den eigenen Alltag jenseits früherer Routinen zu meistern, weil auch Beratende regelmäßig ähnlich verunsichernde Situationen erleben. Zum anderen versuchen sie zeitgleich in einer auch beruflich neuen Situation den Fragen und Problemen oft sehr verunsicherter Klient*innen gerecht zu werden. Da Beratung in der Pandemie immer häufiger mittels Telefon oder per Video geschieht, werden hier die wichtigsten Aspekte zu diesen Kommunikationsformen in den Blick gebracht und weiterführende Internetressourcen zur Thematik erschlossen. Auch wenn suizidale Krisen in der Beratungskommunikation eher die Ausnahme sind, wird das Thema hier ausführlich behandelt. Schließlich sind solche existenziellen Krisen in der telefon- oder videobasierten Krisenintervention besonders herausfordernd und können in Krisenzeiten vermehrt vorkommen." (Seite 1)
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"This brief sets out practical considerations relating to flows of information, misinformation and disinformation though online media, particularly social media networks, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It details various types of online media, key players and influencers on social media, a
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nd strategies for ensuring good information and disrupting mis- and disinformation. It is important to analyse different types of information across different channels, how it is spread and to whom, in order to determine how social media can be harnessed in both positive and negative ways. The WHO recommends proactive communication during a public health emergency that, “encourages the public to adopt protective behaviours, facilitates heightened disease surveillance, reduces confusion and allows for better allocation of resources – all of which are necessary for an effective response”. With its global influence, social media requires particular consideration during times of public health emergencies and was highlighted as a key issue by the Social Science Working Group of WHO’s Global Research Roadmap for COVID-19. Timely, accurate communication through all media sources is a critical component of ensuring trust in response activities." (Page 1)
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"COVID-19 vaccine deployment faces an unprecedented degree of uncertainty and complexity, which is difficult to communicate, such as immune response, duration of immunity, repeated vaccination, transmission dynamics, microbiological and clinical characteristics and multiple vaccines. Priority groups
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for vaccine deployment need transparent public debate to build support for ethical principles. Current seasonal flu uptake is low in certain groups, suggesting vaccination challenges, which include: high risk groups under the age of 65 (40 - 50%), support staff in health care organisations (as low as 37%) and London and even variation amongst key workers such as Doctors (40 - 100%). Deployment and tracking should build on existing immunisation programmes such as primary care by GPs to identify comorbidities, track vaccinations and reminders for additional boosters. COVID-19 vaccine deployment faces an infodemic with misinformation often filling the knowledge void, characterised by: (1) distrust of science and selective use of expert authority, (2) distrust in pharmaceutical companies and government, (3) straightforward explanations, (4) use of emotion; and, (5) echo chambers. A narrow focus on misinformation disregards the fact that there are genuine knowledge voids, necessitating public dialogue about vaccine concerns and hesitancy rather than providing passive one-way communication strategies." (Summary of key points, page 1)
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