InControl-2020_interaktiv-christopher-burke

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Chapter 3: Taking a glimpse into the health environment
Communication Part 1:
Infodemics and misinformation
By Christopher Burke
The importance of communication can never be overestimated.
The capacity for effective two-way communication is
critical to driving the discourse of any mission and shaping
its public perception. The dissemination of accurate and
timely information will minimise information vacuums
that can be exploited and result in negative coverage. Before
messages are crafted, it is crucial to ascertain the situation
accurately as well as to understand stakeholder and public
perceptions.
Crisis management missions will typically face an overload
of information – a phenomenon referred to as ‘infodemics’.
Sources of information comprise everything from
traditional media (print, TV and radio) to rapidly emerging
digital media (social media and emails) and word of mouth.
Time and resource constraints rarely permit the opportunity
to watch, read and listen to everything. A systematic
strategy is required to identify and understand pertinent
issues, before meaningful responses can be developed and
disseminated.

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Sources
The main categories of information are:
• primary data, such as government or
key stakeholder announcements;
• secondary sources, including traditional and
digital media;
• informal sources, such as staff and
casual encounters with members of the public.
The availability of print media and TV are often minimal
in a crisis scenario. FM radio, ubiquitous in most parts of
the world, is an extremely effective tool for public communication.
But it is heavily influenced by local political
conditions and is limited geographically to not more than
30km beyond direct line of sight from a transmitter or
repeater. Short-wave radio is a more reliable medium for
objective information from global news agencies, but it
is rarely detailed, often outdated and will not provide a
nuanced understanding of the situation. A small batteryoperated
SW/FM radio is an invaluable addition to any relief
worker’s go-bag.
Digital media are an increasingly important source of information,
though often not feasible in crisis situations due
to damaged infrastructure. While internet penetration and
access to smart phones are growing rapidly, according to
the World Bank ‘only about 35 percent of the population
in developing countries has access to the Internet (versus

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Chapter 3: Taking a glimpse into the health environment
about 80 percent in advanced economies).’ Word of mouth
continues to be very effective. It can be astonishingly fast
and uncannily durable, but it is also vulnerable to distortion
and misinformation.
Misinterpretation and misinformation
Each of these sources must be assessed and contextualised
against prevalent, prominent social, political and economic
factors. The facts and figures received will often be inconsistent
and sometimes conflicting. Most errors and contradictions
can be attributed to shortcomings in the capacity of
information sources, associated with misinterpretations,
typos and delays between the capture and dissemination
of information.
However, sometimes the errors can be more insidious. Deliberate
misinformation can be as simple as withholding key
facts and figures in the development and dissemination of
information. Information can be intentionally manipulated.
Misinformation, while most common in conflict scenarios,
is prevalent in many crises. Unscrupulous actors at any
level of civil society or government can exploit situations for
economic, social or political gain – especially in emergency
situations, where positions and power can change hands
very rapidly. Response missions are often key actors and risk
being co-opted to legitimise false or misleading information
to support the cause of unscrupulous actors. Even percep-

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tions of partiality can leave mission staff and beneficiaries
vulnerable to attack or marginalisation.
Failure to accurately assess information can result in an
incorrect analysis of a situation. This will at best undermine
the mission, wasting time and resources, while at worst it
can expose mission staff and beneficiaries to unnecessary
danger. For example, you might unknowingly move through
an area still exposed to risk from landmines, or establish
operations somewhere prone to floods or landslides. Meanwhile,
internal divisions within your own mission may
result in distortions in the management of information
that can adversely affect operations.
Managing your mission’s communication
All information, irrespective of the source, must be scrutinised
objectively for both misinformation and the omission
of key facts. Information must be weighed and contextualised
against relevant trends. Patterns will quickly emerge,
but facts should be cross-referenced against as many different
sources as possible (primary, secondary and informal),
across the social, political and economic spectrum before
being treated as credible.
Once fully cognisant of the relevant issues, including the
positions of different stakeholders, the mission’s messaging
and content can be tailored to the appropriate media (print,
TV, FM radio and digital) targeting specific audiences. Mis-

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sion staff should be fully briefed on the content of official
communications. They will play an important role in the
dissemination of information via word of mouth among
beneficiaries and within the community. The impact of all
communications should be carefully monitored and assessed,
to fine tune the development of content and reassess
the efficacy of the different media used for dissemination.
Communication among mission staff requires constant
management and coordination.