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News on COVID-19
The prevalence of disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic has prompted Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) to warn that: “We’re not just fighting an epidemic; we’re fighting an infodemic.” The infodemic is defined as an overabundance of information, some accurate and some not, during an epidemic. It makes it hard […]
By Martin LaMonicaWhen a mysterious virus began racing around the globe early this year, scientists at the University of Washington’s newly created Center for an Informed Public described it as the perfect storm for bogus information, both innocent and malicious. So what’s the situation six months later, now that the coronavirus pandemic is playing out in tandem […]
By Sandi DoughtonCOVID-19 has had a profound effect on how communities connect. Shelter-in-place policies have shifted the majority of our social interactions online, driving the transition to the digital public square. What are the trends and opportunities for cities, planners and technologists as they seek to engage residents and support civic participation? A discussion of what civic […]
The emergence of online social networks has revolutionized the way people seek and share information. Nowadays, popular online social sites as Twitter, Facebook and Google+ are among the major news sources as well as the most effective channels for viral marketing. However, these networks also became the most effective channel for spreading misinformation, accidentally or […]
As health authorities around the world struggle to respond to this pandemic, they are challenged by the misinfodemic that has followed, where the spread of health misinformation online has contributed to the spread of health and disease outcomes offline. The public has had an insatiable appetite for information about this new virus and its disease. […]
Appointing a former pharma executive to run the coronavirus vaccine program is like handing live ammo to anti-vaccine misinformation campaigns.
Unreliable and false information is spreading around the world to such an extent, that some commentators are now referring to the new avalanche of misinformation that’s accompanied the COVID-19 pandemic as a ‘disinfodemic’.
As of April 26, 2019, CDC had reported 704 cases of measles in the United States since the beginning of 2019, representing the largest number of cases reported in the country in a single year since…
What do today’s college students think about free expression on campus, and how do they understand the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment? How has COVID-19 changed the way college students speak out? We’re talking with Dr. Wayne Frederick, president of Howard University, and Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America. They’ll share insights on how […]
As Victoria grapples with multiple clusters of Covid-19 across 10 suburbs, experts have warned against blaming culturally diverse communities for spreading or believing misinformation, following comments by the state’s chief health officer that appeared to hold conspiracy theories partially responsible for the spike. “There are people who use social media from their country of origin […]
By Melissa Davey & Matilda BoseleyWe test for and measure the effects of cable news in the US on regional differences in compliance with recommendations by health experts to practice social distancing during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. We use a quasi-experimental design to estimate the causal effect of Fox News viewership on stay-at-home behavior by using only […]