"Over the past decade, philanthropic organisations have poured millions of dollars into different specialised forms of journalism in Africa. While these new specialised forms of journalism are aimed at addressing existing gaps in news reporting on the continent, there has been growing concern over t
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he potential effects this has on the practice of journalism. This study explores the rise in philanthropy-funded journalism and analyses its broader implications for the practice of journalism in South Africa, focusing on the weekly Mail & Guardian newspaper and its two off-shoots, AmaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism and Bhekisisa Centre for Health Journalism. It is based on a combination of informant interviews with editors and managers of these three entities, secondary research, as well as analysis of documents from these entities." (Abstract)
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"Due to the relative lack of media comparison studies within Asian contexts, theoretical frameworks based in Western societies have been applied to knowledge production in the global South. Using a ‘most different’ design, this study compares the dimensions of media systems reflected in two Chin
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ese and two Korean newspapers in their initial coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Content analysis showed statistically significant differences in distribution of sources, topics and valence, usage of frame types, and actors including domestic government and foreign entities held responsible between the two groups of media. Based on political implications of crisis on Chinese and Korean news content, we mainly discuss political instrumentalization and parallelism in the media in an Asian context. Finally, we open up the dimensions of media system from an Asian perspective and address the need for future research." (Abstract)
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"In terms of quality of media coverage, there are various outcomes: In Asia, for example, small and independent outlets, able to provide reliable information, gained momentum, whereas citizens in the MENA-region turned to social media in search of trustworthy facts on the coronavirus. In South-Easte
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rn Europe, pseudo-journalism and fake news spread mainly via the Internet, while in sub-Saharan Africa innovative formats emerged, which also enhanced the quality of reporting. In many regions and countries, not least in Germany, demand for factbased, reliable reporting increased, offering an opportunity for quality-oriented media to regain audiences’ trust. The economic situation is difficult for almost all media outlets worldwide, although there are some differences. In Central and Eastern Europe, for example, pro-government media continued to benefit from state-sponsored advertising, while other media suffered even more acute drops in revenue. In many regions, media outlets expanded their online presence to partly compensate these losses by introducing additional paywalls, as was the case in the US, for example. In Latin America, many news outlets had to reduce their staff shortly after the outbreak of COVID-19 due to a shortfall in revenues. Small, independent outlets in Asia and Central Eastern Europe could raise their income through an increase in memberships or subscriptions. In Central Eastern Europe, especially younger generations acknowledged that quality journalism requires financing, while in Southeast Europe, it is still uncommon to pay for online media consumption, which is a setback for independent online journalism." (At a glance, page 2-3)
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"The five research streams are listed below. For each stream, three top research questions were identified, resulting in a list of 15 top priority research questions for the public health research agenda for infodemic management. Further, we listed for each subcategory a second tier of important res
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earch questions, totalling 50 questions [...] Research stream 1: Measure and monitor the impact of infodemics during health emergencies [...] Research stream 2: Detect and understand the spread and impact of infodemics [...] Research stream 3: Respond and deploy interventions that protect against the infodemic and mitigate its harmful effects [...] Research stream 4: Evaluate infodemic interventions and strengthen the resilience of individuals and communities to infodemics [...] Research stream 5: Promote the development, adaptation and application of tools for managing infodemics ..." (Annex 1, page 19 ff.)
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"Despite detailed policies on mis- and disinformation and promises to enforce them, social media platforms are failing to tackle prominent groups and individuals who spread false claims about COVID-19 and vaccines online. Using the World Doctors Alliance1 as a case study, a group that has spread var
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ious problematic, false and conspiratorial claims about COVID-19 and vaccines, ISD found that 78% of the group’s 1.2 million online followers are found on mainstream platforms (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, TikTok) who claim to prohibit this kind of content. The Facebook pages of World Doctors Alliance members have a following of over 550,000 users, which increased by 13,215% between January 2020 and July 2021. Videos posted by these Facebook pages have been viewed more than 21.1 million times. These pages have accumulated a total of 5.77 million interactions since January 2020, with interaction rates increasing by 85% in the first six months of 2021 compared to the previous six months. Facebook posts mentioning the World Doctors Alliance or its members have attracted more than three million engagements on Facebook and are present in at least 46 different languages on the platform. ISD found that large proportions—often the majority—of the most engaged with content on Facebook mentioning the World Doctors Alliance or its members in English, Spanish, German and Arabic contained false, misleading or conspiratorial claims related to COVID-19 and vaccines. Organisations that are part of Facebook’s fact-checking program have debunked false claims made by the World Doctors Alliance 189 times since the beginning of the pandemic. Despite this extensive fact-checking effort, Facebook is failing to take decisive action on the group or its members. Facebook’s fact-checking program incorporates organisations from 115 countries, but there appear to be major gaps in fact-checking in non-English languages. ISD found minimal application of fact-checking labels across the four languages analysed, with lower application rates on posts in German, Spanish and Arabic than in English. Content that does contain fact-checking labels is still accumulating tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands of engagements." (Key findings)
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"In the first pandemic of the datafied society, the disempowered were denied a voice in the heavily quantified mainstream narrative. Featuring stories of invisibility, injustice, hope and resistance, this book gives voice to communities at the margins in the Global South and beyond. The multilingual
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, polycentric and pluriversal narration invites the reader to enact and experience “Big Data from the South(s)” as a decolonial lens to read the pandemic." (Back cover)
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"Building trust in public health authorities and epidemic response takes time and is an ongoing process. However, in the short term, mistrust can be mitigated by responding in contextually appropriate ways through meaningful community engagement: 1. Use social science to understand the socio-economi
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c, political and historical context [...] 2. Adapt communications to respond to the concerns of different groupsof people, using trusted sources and platforms [...] 3. Establish dialogue and create feedback systems [...] 4. Include diverse groups and listen with an open mind [...] 5. Be transparent, consistent and open, particularly about uncertainty, controversy and mistakes [...] 6. Offer compelling narratives that build a sense of capability and motivation to act." (Pages 3-4)
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"Die Bedeutung, die dem Medieninformationssystem zukam, hat die amerikanische Medienwissenschaftlerin Sandra Ball-Rokeach auf eine knappe Formel gebracht: Je einschneidender Änderungen der sozialen Umwelt empfunden werden, desto wahrscheinlicher wird es, dass das »Medieninformationssystem« für p
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raktisch alle Akteurezur wichtigsten Ressource wird, diese Umwelt zu verstehen und in ihrsinnvoll zu handeln. Das wiederum ist so zu verstehen, dass mit Erscheinen des Virus auf der Bildfläche das Wirkungspotenzial von Medien mindestens kurzfristig enorm angestiegen sein dürfte. Das ist aus dieser Perspektive aber weniger den Inszenierungskünsten des Journalismus oder denen von Influencerinnen und Influencern zuzurechnen, als eben der großen allgemeinen Verunsicherung, die dieses Virus ausgelöst hat. Als Maß dieser Verunsicherung können die teilweise ganz erheblichen Reichweitengewinne für etablierte Medienorganisationen gelten. Die öffentlich-rechtlichen und privaten Informationsangebote des Fernsehens, praktisch die gesamte Presse – offline wie online – und auch das öffentlich-rechtlich organisierte Radio verzeichneten deutliche Zuwächse. In unsicheren Zeiten wächst der Bedarf an zuverlässigen Informationen, die man offenbar am ehesten bei etablierten und vertrauenswürdigen Anbietern erwartete. Dieses Verhalten bleibt allerdings gekoppelt an die Voraussetzung, dass man den genannten Medien dieses Zutrauen auch entgegenbringt. Der Anteil derjenigen, für die das nicht zutrifft, wird von einschlägigen Umfragen auf etwa ein Fünftel beziffert. Sie sehen das Mediensystem mit den Mächtigen im Bunde, zweifeln an dessen Unabhängigkeit und Akkuratesse. Da aber das Corona-Virus auch diese Gruppe verunsichert, dürfte auch sogenannten alternativen Medien ein vergrößertes Einflusspotenzial zuzurechnen sein. Die Medienabhängigkeit der Journalismuskritikerinnen und -kritiker dürfte sogar deutlich stärker ausgeprägt sein. Denn diese Gruppe muss ja nicht nur die soziale Unsicherheit bewältigen, die mit der Verbreitung des Corona-Virus zusammenhängt. Sie sieht sich darüber hinaus fortgesetzt dem Problem gegenüber, dass ihre Deutungen der Situation in Widerspruch stehen zur dominanten öffentlichen Meinung, die sich in den traditionellen Medien ausbildet. Und genau das befördert Unsicherheit und erzeugt fortgesetzt Bedarf, sich der Richtigkeit seiner Minderheitenposition zu versichern." (Seite 267-268)
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"Schaut man sich die Beispiele des Umgangs mit Corona in den drei behandelten Fernsehformaten – Nachrichten, fiktive Erzählgenres und Corona-Miniserien – an, fällt eine seltsame Ausweichbewegung auf, auch dann, wenn die Pandemie selbst das Thema ist. In den Nachrichten wird die Krankheit durch
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industrielle, menschenleere Bildarrangements erzählt, im Reich der Serien und Feature-Filme wird sie gleich ganz verschwiegen, und das Nischen-TV der experimentellen Corona-Miniserien zieht sich auf eine Dramedy mit komischer Heldin zurück. In der Erzähltheorie spricht man davon, dass nur mögliche Leben (possible lives) erzählt werden können, weil lediglich im Rahmen der eigenen Kultur und ihrer Vergangenheit ein Verständnis erzeugt werden könne. Dementsprechend scheint im derzeitigen Deutschland auch die Pandemie an die Grenzen der Erzählbarkeit zu stoßen. Covid-19 ist zwar nicht die erste Seuche, die das Abendland heimgesucht hat und erzählt wurde – man denke an die Pest, die Cholera, die spanische Grippe und AIDS –, sie ist aber die erste, die gleichzeitig global verbreitet ist, globalisierte Regime und Abwehrstrategien verlangt und – welch eine Kränkung! – in den demokratischen Nationen schwerer unter Kontrolle zu bringen ist als in einigen autoritären Regimen. Das kulturelle Selbstbewusstsein des Globalen Nordens verlangt, »Herr der Lage« zu sein. Wenn das nicht möglich ist, müssen wenigstens die Opfer unsichtbar bleiben. In den Unterhaltungsgenres, in denen vom besseren Leben geträumt wird und wo das (oft nur zwischenzeitliche) Liebes-Happyend alles wieder gut macht, hat Corona mit seiner Todesdrohung und seiner Berührungslosigkeit keinen Platz. Nur in einem Nischengenre wird ausprobiert, wie ein Leben mit Gesicht, Körper und Corona erzählt werden könnte." (Epilog, Seite 285)
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"O presente relatório propôs, através de uma análise de transparência passiva e ativa, um diagnóstico quanto à transparência e a garantia do direito de acesso à informação pública de saúde, em período sensível de calamidade no Brasil - a pandemia do novo coronavírus. O contexto de in
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fodemia somou-se aos crescentes entraves institucionais impostos pelo governo de Jair Bolsonaro, tornando quase impossível obter informações oficiais seguras, participar e monitorar as políticas públicas governamentais. Na pandemia de COVID-19, isso se ampliou e continua em curso, mais de um ano após, ainda que às custas de mais de 420 mil vidas perdidas. Muitos indícios denotam a intencionalidade das ações, como a afirmação recente de chefe da ANVISA17 sobre ter participado de reunião no Palácio do Planalto, em que se sugeriu modificar a bula da cloroquina para incluir possibilidade de seu uso contra a COVID-19, mesmo sendo este ato contrário a evidências científicas. Ainda que houvesse evidência contrária ao uso, houve ampla propaganda, pelo presidente da república, da cloroquina e de hidroxicloroquina como tratamentos para a infecção por coronavírus, levando a novas comorbidades. Se, por um lado, a importância do compartilhamento proativo de informações confiáveis e úteis para o eficiente enfrentamento à Covid-19 já tem sido reiterado por organizações nacionais e internacionais, a análise aqui presente mostra que as diversas formas de desinformação, incluindo o apagão de dados são, hoje, a regra no Brasil. O largo desrespeito aos prazos de resposta, a prorrogação indefinida para manifestações concernentes à pandemia e a banalização do sigilo18 são apenas uma parte pequena desses entraves - e não refletem a pressa que o contexto pandêmico exige sobre segurança acerca dos modos de prevenção, tratamento e contenção da doença. Para além disso, a propaganda massiva da desinformação vem sendo meio de afetação de milhares de pessoas no país que, possuindo menos acesso ao conhecimento científico produzido, confiam nas figuras de liderança que deveriam estar fazendo o papel de assegurar medidas de saúde. Foi possível constatar neste estudo um grave sintoma, face aos pedidos realizados. Da análise de amplitude de acesso, 75% dos pedidos tiveram retorno insuficiente." (Conclusões, página 41)
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"How we report on vaccines and vaccination programmes can affect public perceptions of vaccines and vaccine acceptance. In this field, our choice of words, narrative decisions, presentation of data and selection of sources are all crucial - not just journalistically, but from a public health perspec
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tive to ensure accurate information reaches the right audiences." (Page 1)
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"In almost all countries, news organisations are the single most widely used source of information about coronavirus. Furthermore, news organisations have become even more central to how people stay informed about coronavirus in the last year because, while overall reach has declined compared to ear
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lier in the pandemic, the reach of other sources has declined more. While important and widely used, news organisations in most countries reach significantly fewer of the younger 18–24-year-olds, and in most countries reach significantly fewer people with low or medium levels of education than those with a university degree, underlining challenges around information inequality. Some of the ‘rally around the flag’ effect seen earlier in the crisis is dissipating, but not equally so for all institutions. Trust in news organisations has declined by an average of eight percentage points (pp), but trust in national government has declined by an average of 13pp. In most countries covered, national health authorities, global health authorities, and scientists, doctors, or other health experts, remain highly and broadly trusted, though this trust has declined somewhat too, especially in Argentina and the United States. The trust gap between coronavirus information from news organisations and information on different kinds of platforms remains pronounced. On average, the gap between news organisations and social media is 21pp, between news and video sites 22pp, and between news and messaging applications 28pp. The gap is six points on average between news and search engines, but in Japan the gap is not statistically significant, and in Argentina and Brazil search engines are trusted more for news and information about COVID-19." (Executive summary, page 7)
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"La primera parte invita a reflexionar sobre los criterios de noticiabilidad y el uso de emociones en los contenidos comunicacionales, explora formas discursivas, propone una estructura de construcción de héroes y plantea algunas interrogantes para identificar estereotipos y falsos paradigmas en l
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as comunicaciones. La segunda parte está orientada hacia el lenguaje, la evolución del concepto de discapacidad y sus diferentes modelos. Asimismo, se sugieren ejemplos para reflexionar respecto al contenido y abarca algunas pinceladas mínimas de análisis del discurso y fundamentos de lingüística. En la tercera parte se expone un análisis crítico sobre el tratamiento de informaciones relativas a personas con discapacidad en el contexto dominicano, se presentan los resultados de un levantamiento hecho por nuestro equipo en los periódicos El Nuevo Diario, Hoy, Listín Diario, El Caribe y Diario Libre sobre el caso de La Lotería. El abordaje del estudio es propositivo, analiza conceptos y las interpretaciones narrativas que estos sugieren, invita a reflexionar respecto a cómo se construyen los relatos sociales a través de los canales de comunicación utilizados en los espacios periodísticos y organizacionales." (Página 7)
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"This article presents new empirical insights into what people do with conspiracy theories during crises. By suppressing the impulse to distinguish between truth and falsehood, which has characterized most scholarship on the COVID-19 “infodemic,” and engaging with claims surrounding two popular
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COVID-19 conspiracies—on 5G and on Bill Gates—in South Africa and Nigeria, we illustrate how conspiracies morph as they interact with different socio-political contexts. Drawing on a mixed-method analysis of more than 6 million tweets, we examine how, in each country, conspiracies have uniquely intersected with longer-term discourses and political projects. In Nigeria, the two conspiracies were both seized as opportunities to extend criticism to the ruling party. In South Africa, they produced distinctive responses: while the 5G conspiracy had limited buy-in, the Gates conspiracy resonated with deep-rooted resentment toward the West, corporate interests, and what is seen as a paternalistic attitude of some external actors toward Africa. These findings stress the importance of taking conspiracy theories seriously, rather than dismissing them simply as negative externalities of digital ecosystems. Situating conspiracies in specific dynamics of trust and mistrust can make an important difference when designing responses that are not limited to broadcasting truthful information, but can also enable interventions that account for deeply rooted sentiments of suspicion toward specific issues and actors, which can vary significantly across communities." (Abstract)
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"This study aims to explore the characteristics and quality of suicide reporting by mainstream publishers via social media in China. Via the application programming interface of the social media accounts of the top 10 Chinese mainstream publishers (eg, People's Daily and Beijing News), we obtained 2
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366 social media posts reporting suicide. This study conducted content analysis to demonstrate the characteristics and quality of the suicide reporting. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, we assessed the quality of suicide reporting by indicators of harmful information and helpful information [...] Conclusions: The suicide reporting of mainstream publishers on social media in China broadly had low adherence to the WHO guidelines. Considering the tremendous information dissemination power of social media platforms, we suggest developing national suicide reporting guidelines that apply to social media. By effectively playing their separate roles, we believe that social media practitioners, health institutions, social organizations, and the general public can endeavor to promote responsible suicide reporting in the Chinese social media environment." (Abstract)
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"We review 100 articles published from 2000 to early 2020 that research aspects of vaccine hesitancy in online communication spaces and identify several gaps in the literature prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. These gaps relate to five areas: disciplinary focus; specific vaccine, condition, or disease
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focus; stakeholders and implications; research methodology; and geographical coverage. Our findings show that we entered the global pandemic vaccination effort without a thorough understanding of how levels of confidence and hesitancy might differ across conditions and vaccines, geographical areas, and platforms, or how they might change over time. In addition, little was known about the role of platforms, platforms’ politics, and specific sociotechnical affordances in the spread of vaccine hesitancy and the associated issue of misinformation online." (Abstract)
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