admin | December 21, 2020
UNESCO has created a “Resource Center of Responses to COVID-19” to help journalists continue to cover the story of COVID-19 and fight disinformation. The page is updated regularly as the global realities of COVID-19 continue to evolve. The resources on this website are offered in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Chinese, and Portuguese. To access the resource centre, visit: https://en.unesco.org/covid19/communicationinformationresponse/mediasupport.
Some of the resources available include:
- A handbook, titled “Journalism, Fake News & Disinformation,” which covers seven modules, including truth in journalism, types of fake news, fact checking, social media verification, and more. The handbook can be used as a model for training. It is available in 20 languages. To access the handbook, visit: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000265552?posInSet=1&queryId=f0066d24-eee9-42f1-8ca5-4b5dc1ece16e
- A self-directed online course, titled “Journalism in a pandemic: Covering COVID-19 now and in the future,” talks about the origin of COVID-19, how to cover COVID-19, and the possibility of treatments and vaccines. The course is available for free in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Chinese, and Portuguese. To access the course, visit: https://journalismcourses.org/course/enpandemic/
- Radio spots and audio resources that can be freely used by radio stations to counter COVID-19 disinformation. All audio is available is English, French, Spanish, Mongolian, and in some cases, additional languages. To access the audio resources, visit: https://en.unesco.org/covid19/communicationinformationresponse/audioresources
- Visuals that can be freely used by the public. The visuals can be used as posters or shared on social media such as WhatsApp. These resources give information about media and information literacy, media and information literacy for parents, information overload, quality journalism, and the difference between fact and opinion. To access the visuals, visit: https://en.unesco.org/covid19/communicationinformationresponse/visualresources
- The #DontGoViral campaign, launched by UNESCO and i4Policy to gather local content to combat the Infodemic in Africa. This campaign is open to content creators of all kinds, including journalists and broadcasters. For more information on how to participate in the campaign, visit: https://en.unesco.org/news/dontgoviral-unesco-and-i4policy-launch-campaign-crowdsource-local-content-combat-infodemic