Help inform the conversation
MediaWell relies on members of the public to submit articles, events, and research.
News on COVID-19
Video: How U.S. social media conspiracy theories made Europeans skeptical of the Covid vaccine | NBC
NBC News’ Brandy Zadrozny reports on how people in Europe are skeptical of the Covid-19 vaccine due to conspiracy theories that were made in the U.S.Nov. 30, 2021. Editor’s Note: See video at link below. Source: Video: How U.S. social media conspiracy theories made Europeans skeptical of the Covid vaccine | NBC
By Brandy ZadroznyLate last week, the world started to hear about a new coronavirus variant that had already started to worry scientists: B.1.1.529, which was first detected in southern Africa earlier this month. On Friday, the World Health Organization noted the variant’s very high number of mutations, declared it to be “of concern,” and christened it “Omicron,” […]
By Jon AllsopFor education policymakers, the last two years have been among the most tumultuous and challenging in U.S. history. Issue after issue has stirred controversy, including COVID-induced school closures, mask and vaccine mandates, critical race theory, and transgender students’ rights. Local school board meetings have been stages for many conflicts. Board members are confronting angry protestors […]
Dutta (name changed) is 75 years old and lives in a middle-class residential cluster in South Delhi. Throughout, his phone was flooded with WhatsApp messages on how to fight the COVID-19 pandemic: from the use of hydroxychloroquine – the anti-malarial drug – to drinking garlic in hot water to drinking cow urine. A former defence […]
By Mitali MukherjeeA common way to tackle misinformation, especially health misinformation, is to ignore it. And this is a strategy often employed by authority figures — sidestep the misinformation, don’t give it airtime, and it might just go away. But the results of a new study suggest that this method of combating health misinformation is less effective […]
By Shraddha ChakraddharHere is the latest installment of a weekly feature I have been running for some time on this blog — lessons from the nonprofit News Literacy Project, which aims to teach students and the public how to sort fact from fiction in our digital and contentious age. The News Literacy Project was founded more than a […]
By Valerie StraussThe Surgeon General just released a toolkit to help people fight misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines. It is geared specifically for people to talk about misinformation within their close circles of friends and family. Social media researcher Jenny Stromer-Galley, professor at the iSchool at Syracuse University, can offer insight on the proliferation of misinformation and how […]
By Jennifer Stromer-GalleyThe Mercury Project is a global consortium of researchers dedicated to combating the impacts of mis- and disinformation on public health and to finding interventions that support the spread and uptake of accurate health information. Together, we can build a healthier information environment. .entry-header The information networks that carry public health guidance into communities are […]
By SSRCIn the early 19th century, British people finally had access to the first vaccine in history, one that promised to protect them from smallpox, among the deadliest diseases of the era. Many Britons were skeptical of the vaccine, however, with fears extending well beyond the fatigue and sore arm that go along with many modern […]
By Jess McHughOn a recent episode of his podcast, Rick Wiles, a pastor and self-described “citizen reporter,” endorsed a conspiracy theory: that Covid-19 vaccines were the product of a “global coup d’état by the most evil cabal of people in the history of mankind.” “It’s an egg that hatches into a synthetic parasite and grows inside your […]
By Tiffany Hsu and Marc TracyA campaign to tackle false information around Covid-19 vaccines for youngsters aged 12 to 15 has been launched on TikTok and Instagram. Children of this age range are eligible for a single dose of the vaccine but are thought to susceptible to false information on social media. Suffolk health’s campaign hopes to counteract this problem […]
By BBC News