Thread by @rasmus_kleis

How do people around the world get informed about coronavirus and about responses to the pandemic?

Gave first of our #RISJwebinars today, summarizing some of our existing research, work by others, and seminars w/public health experts from @UniofOxford. Key points in thread 1/9

Some TV programs and many news websites have seen audiences grow, but internet use including social and search is up too so I'd suggest platforms continue to play a key role in distribution of information (and misinformation)

(Data from 2019 digitalnewsreport.org) 2/9

News accessed through these side-doors is generally less trusted than news accessed directly. Below data from 2019, we are launching new @risj_oxford research around #covid19 now - meanwhile, others' studies have found trust in news up in e.g. Denmark but not in e.g. Greece

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We have long found that many people are concerned about their ability to separate what’s real and what’s fake online. Fresh research from @EdelmanPR show many are also concerned about whether government officials, news media, and journalists will tell the truth about #covid19
4/9

This chimes with our long-standing finding (data below from 2018) that much of the public see misinformation as a broad and diverse set of problems including not only false and fabricated content but also what they see as poor journalism, political propaganda, and some ads

5/9

Any upsides? Already before #covid19 and what @WHO describe as "infodemic" around virus, many people said concerns over misinfo had led them to rely more on what they considered to be more reputable news sources, and indeed internal data suggests e.g. @BBCNews see huge growth
6/9

When they spoke to our @risj_oxford last week about how journalists can help stop the spread of the coronavirus outbreak, @PeterDrobac and @trudie_lang were clear about how platforms are part of the problem, but also a part of the solution. More here: reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/risj-review/ho…
7/9

@PeterDrobac also stressed importance of journalism, said "you want to portray information in a way that is clear and measured", noted "it’s difficult to do that while admitting how much uncertainty there is". Our past research suggest uncertainty should be presented as risk 8/9

As said, most of this is based on existing @risj_oxford work predating #covid19 crisis (working on new research as I type).

Underlying work summarized here, w/links to other resources, including tips from @firstdraftnews @Poynter @TheLancet and more: reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/risj-review/co…

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