Journalists from around the world, including Manila Bulletin’s digital content head Pam Rances, participated in the commemoration of World News Day through a webinar titled “COVID-19: How can you contribute?”, which focused on discussing newsroom efforts in dispelling misinformation, debunking myths and rumors and how the younger generation can help fight it amid the pandemic.
In the 30-minute session, Rances highlighted the need to solidify trust and better communication between the media and the readers in order to guarantee consumption of information on a level that everyone understands.
“Factual and simple,” she said, “communication is a two-way street. More than just bombarding them with information, we have to let them know that they can talk to us, rely on us, in order to decrease the possibility of them falling victim to implausible and ill-researched stories.”
“I can’t confidently say that we are doing enough but I’d like everyone to know that we are doing our best,” she said. “We have to understand that fighting the infodemic is a continuous process and tomorrow cannot be guaranteed as a fake news-free day.”
The Jakarta Post’s world news editor Tama Salim and ST’s Singapore editor Zakir Hussain joined the panel discussion as they talked about the ongoing situation of misinformation and the complexities the twin crisis of infodemic and pandemic brought in their respective countries, Indonesia and Singapore.
Hussain said, “In hindsight, maybe we could have done some things differently, but I think we tried to reflect fears, concerns, and points of view fairly, all things considered.”
The webinar kicked off at 4PM which was live-streamed from the newsroom of The Straits Times (ST) with more than 250 attendees consisting of journalists and students.