We are failing to provide the right information about the Covid-19 vaccine at the right time to the right people. Here are some suggestions for what we could do 👇 [thread] firstdraftnews.org/long-form-arti…
2/ Many false notions about vaccines, such as them altering DNA, being unnecessary because survival rates from Covid-19 are 99% (very misleading), or providing a "silver bullet" -- haven’t been sufficiently addressed
3/ Reporters, governments, and health bodies need to provide the information in an effective, compelling manner (such as with video and meme-based content)
4/ To do that, we need to monitor online spaces for sudden demand for new information on a given topic, so we know what information is needed and when
5/ In the absence of that, gaps are being exploited with a range of tactics, including headline laundering and the use of children to give an emotional bite, as we’ve seen with hashtag hijacking nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news…
6/ We also face the reverse problem: oversupplying information when it isn’t needed. The sheer quantity of information, as well as its technically complex or seemingly contradictory nature, often leads to confusion and ultimately news avoidance reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news-avoidance…
(THREAD) There’s been chatter about threat modeling based on a @jayrosen_nyu piece. Since Sept ‘19, we’ve run over 25 crisis simulations with more than 1k people working in the media, at platforms and organizations with great results. What we’ve learned pressthink.org/2020/09/the-na…
1. People don’t know what they don’t know and what they’re not ready for. 2. Putting people from different newsrooms and platforms together is necessary for us to understand the dynamics of the information environment in real time.
3. Finding different ways to engage people on these issues is critical. As a participant said, “This has all the fun of a breaking news event, with none of the responsibility.” Journos love the adrenaline rush of a real-time scenario, particularly those put off by “training.”
Between January and June, First Draft collected 9,722 fact checks about the coronavirus outbreak to find out what we could learn about misinformation. Here’s what we found (thread) firstdraftnews.org/latest/the-fir…
On January 15, @rapplerdotcom debunked a social media claim that a case of SARS had been reported in Mandaluyong City, outside Manila. The article would be the first of many fact checks relating to the new coronavirus in 2020 according to our research rappler.com/newsbreak/fact…
The new Ad Observatory tool from @nyutandon is a great way to track political ad spending on Facebook. One of its best features is that it lets you monitor spending automatically with a range of different alerts. This thread will show you how.
Step 1: You'll need to sign up for an account at adobservatory.org as email notifications are only available if you have registered. Luckily, this tool is free for journalists (including freelancers) and approval usually happens within a business day.
Step 2: State pages are a good place to start when browsing ideas for what notifications to set up. Clicking on individual races and top spenders shows more detail, like micro-targeting. Here's a comparison of ad spending from Congressional candidates in Florida’s 3rd district
At First Draft, we have spent much of 2020 talking about the infodemic. Here are the final three pieces to bring together our editorial series, ‘Tracking the infodemic’
In this report we explore a new concept called ‘data deficits’ and why we need to monitor the demand and supply of information in real time
Knowing the exact time that something was posted can help you verify content on social media. Each platform has a different way of displaying dates and times. This thread will show you how to investigate a video posted on TikTok.
Step 1 - Open up TikTok on your browser. Remember that to view a TikTok account you have to include the @ before the user’s handle in the URL → tiktok.com/@userhandle
Step 2 - Open up the individual page for the TikTok video that you are investigating
Our handbook from 2017, written by @samdubberley and Michele Grant, deals with the challenges posed by vicarious trauma and offers practical tips for journalists, newsrooms managers and universities. Find it here: firstdraftnews.org/latest/vicario…
The recent pandemic prompted First Draft's @lydmorrish to offer some tips for journalists on how to take care of themselves, as the demand for coverage continues. firstdraftnews.org/latest/how-to-…