Independent, Innovative & Feminist: Three Newsrooms Champion Access to Information
We're all set for a busy and exciting week ahead as we close the month with an event to mark the International Day for Universal Access to Information. Do sign up and join us in conversation with three dynamic women who lead independent media newsrooms in Brazil, Egypt and India.
This week we have updates on new reports published to highlight or address misinformation and resources on COVID-19 claims and myths from our inhouse expert Dr Seema Yasmin. We have several updates and announcements from Meedan this week. Catch us launching and collaborating on exciting projects and welcoming new members to the team.
Independent, Innovative & Feminist:
Three Newsrooms Champion Access to Information 🌍
To observe the International Day for Universal Access to Information, Meedan is bringing together independent media organisations ensuring editorial independence and diversity in their newsrooms while working in challenging contexts. Join us in conversation with Nora Younis of Al Manassa in Egypt, Maria Vitoria Ramos of Fiquem Sabendo in Brazil, and Disha Mullick of Khabar Lahariya in India.
September 28th
10am Brazil/4pm Egypt/7:30pm India
Your COVID-19 questions
Journalist and medical doctor, Dr. Seema Yasmin shares weekly highlights from Meedan's public health journalism tool, learnaboutcovid19.org.
What do we know about why COVID-19 impacts Black communities in the U.S. more aggressively than others?
Dr. Seema says: "Six months into the pandemic, BIPOC communities in the U.S. continue to be disproportionately impacted by Covid-19; from higher infection and death rates, to higher rates of unemployment. These disparities have highlighted the inaccurate ways that race—a social construct invented by white scientists to oppress non-white poeple—is still treated as a biological trait, and even taught as a biological characteristic in medical schools. Black people are not 4.7 times more likely to be hospitalized with Covid-19 and 2.1 times more likely to die from it because of something inherent in black skin. Even explanations that point to higher rates of chronic disease among Black Americans fail to account for why these differences exist. Disparities in physical and economic health can be explained by racism which puts Black Americans at risk in a number of ways. Educational and job market racism places many Black Americans on the front lines of the pandemic as service workers who are more likely to be exposed to the virus. Racism is also at play in the medical system where medical racism means Black people are less likely to have their symptoms believed and more likely to have their pain undertreated. It is these manifestations of structural and systemic racism that puts Black people at higher risk of infection, death and economic harm." (Read more on what our experts say here)
Are you as likely to die from a common cold as COVID-19?
Dr. Seema says: "Few people die from the common cold while Covid-19 has killed close to 200,000 Americans in seven months. Many comparisons have been made between the new coronavirus and the flu, a deadlier virus than the cold. Common strains of the flu kill around 1 in every 1,000 people who are infected, with an annual flu death toll of tens of thousands of Americans. It’s too early to calculate the exact death rates from the new coronavirus but they are estimated to be at least 10 times higher than the death rate from flu." (Read more on what our experts say here)
Can COVID-19 lead to lethal thrombosis?
Dr. Seema says: "Infection with the new coronavirus can alter the way blood flows, making it stickier and more likely to clot in some patients with Covid-19. Blood clots (thrombus) have been found in the lungs, hearts, brains and limbs and have been attributed as the cause of death in some Covid-19 patients when the clots cut off the blood supply to major organs. The widespread nature of Covid-19 is becoming apparent, with disease of the blood and blood vessels now being studied in affected patients, but it’s still unclear why some people suffer problems related to blood clots while others suffer different or milder versions of the disease." (Read more on what our experts say here)
Top stories
Balancing Act: Countering Digital Disinformation while respecting Freedom of Expression (UNESCO)
The United Nations Broadband Commission released a new report titled ‘Balancing act: Countering digital disinformation while respecting freedom of expression’. The report focuses on how states, companies, institutions and organisations around the world are responding to digital disinformation, and provides a 23-step tool developed to assess disinformation responses.
The report offers a Freedom of Expression Assessment Framework for Disinformation Responses to assist states and other institutions to formulate legislative, regulatory and policy responses to counter disinformation in a manner that supports freedom of expression. The tool includes 23 reference points to enable assessment of responses in accordance with international human rights norms, paying additional attention to access to information and privacy rights.
"In totality, this research affirms that freedom of expression, access to information and critical, independent journalism - supported by open and affordable internet access - are not only fundamental human rights, but should be treasured as essential tools in the arsenal to combat disinformation - whether connected to a pandemic, elections, climate change or social issues. This timely study serves as a call to all stakeholders to uphold these international norms which, along with the UN’s sustainable development goals, are under significant threat from disinformation." — Kalina Bontcheva & Julie Posetti
'Tablighi Virus', 'Pakistan devils': Hate speech in Kannada media coverage documented (The News Minute)
The Campaign Against Hate Speech, a voluntary group of lawyers, writers, activists, filed an extensive report documenting instances of hate speech in 2020 including by the Kannada media in South India while covering incidents of violence in Bengaluru. In its report titled ‘The Report titled ‘Wages of Hate: Journalism in Dark Times', the group noted that individuals are defamed, speculation was published without evidence, and mob justice was encouraged over due process in news reporting. It studied coverage by Kannada newspapers and TV channels which are popularly read and watched in the state of Karnataka.
“Kannada media has not been very different from its egregious counterparts in English, Hindi and other regional media houses, as its reportage of the Tablighi Jamaat cluster has been outrightly communal and has endangered Muslim communities across the state. Hate speech in this period dehumanized an entire community, making them targets of vigilante violence." — The Wages of Hate: Journalism in Dark Times
What’s new at Meedan
Preparing, presenting, producing and publishing podcasts
NAWA Media has partnered with Sowt, an Amman-based podcasting platform which produces and distributes high-quality audio programs in Arabic, through Check Global funding to develop a MOOC on podcasting, available under a CC license. The open-source Arabic-language course introduces podcasting and provides a step-by-step guide into researching, producing, publishing, and disseminating podcasts. It’s hosted on the NAWA Media website and walks students through the necessary steps to make their own podcast. The lesson plan is divided into five chapters, each dedicated to introducing students to different aspects of podcast-making.
Investigating civilian harm using open source intelligence on Meedan’s flagship software, Check
This case study is an example of how the open source community can use Check to document important information, especially when that information is not accessible due to lack of transparency or resource.
Meedan to train fact-checking fellows on health misinformation with Facebook Journalism Project
Meedan is excited to announce a new collaboration with Facebook Journalism Project that will train the next generation of fact-checkers to verify health misinformation for their global audiences.
Meet Sneha Alexander: Meedan's new Program Associate in APAC
With new and exciting partnerships and existing programs in the Asia Pacific region, we have a team working closely with partners and supporting their work. As part of this team, we’re excited to welcome Sneha Alexander to Meedan. Sneha has joined us as the Program Associate for the Asia Pacific region. Her background in journalism and fact-checking will contribute to Meedan’s work on these areas.