The critical role of media during the pandemic – diversity is what matters

Media are a powerful actor during crisis and the way they report in these times impacts the way people perceive the reality and react to it. Inclusion and diversity are often at risk in times of crisis. Media expose and have the potential to exacerbate all inequalities and discriminate more against those who were already marginalized. When minority groups’ voices and experiences are omitted in the media reporting consequences cannot be invisible. Those that are marginalized and less visible in the media are likely to be left out of institutional responses to the crisis.

By Marina Tuneva

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, media faced many challenges. The spreading of false information and disinformation as fast as the spreading of the virus made the role of media particularly difficult. Disinformation, stereotypes and stigmatization have been incredibly bad for outbreak control. The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has repeatedly conveyed the message that “This is the time for science, not rumors. This is the time for solidarity, not stigma.”

Media undoubtedly have a critical role to play in building awareness about all issues of concern to different groups in the society, but also in counteracting myths, wrong perceptions and disinformation that may persist. To break down walls of prejudice and ignorance professional media is needed.

Diversity inclusiveness to fight disinformation
 

Diversity in the media is more than a matter of professional ethics, it is a matter of questioning that given power. Diversity inclusiveness means inviting traditionally underrepresented people to the table. Diversity goes beyond questions of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc. News organizations should seek out the perspectives of urban and rural residents, religious believers and atheists, political conservatives and liberal, etc.

When it comes to COVID-19, diversity is how stories are sourced and reported. It helps to make sure all communities are being represented and served by health authorities. Media can benefit if they check the diversity of news subjects and sources. Journalists are expected to always consider whether they are representing life and news in the different communities accurately. And it's not just statistics, percentages or numbers. It is a matter of maintaining credibility and trust in the eyes of the public. It comes down to a question of credibility: If readers don’t see themselves and hear their voices in your pages, they will no longer view journalists as a credible source of information.

Diverse voices in the stories help in the fight against disinformation. The COVID-19 pandemic showed that more accurate insight into what is happening on the ground will be obtained by drawing information from diverse sources. In Oakland, California, Maynard Institute for Journalism Education teaches journalists to look more deeply and effectively into society through a framework called “fault lines.” This means analyzing what separates people and which differences can fracture our relationships and social structures?

If media carefully select the story angles and provide a platform for different voices to be heard they will prevent potential harm to marginalized groups. Different experts will present different perspectives and see different holes in our reasoning.

Responsible and inclusive journalism also means raising the visibility of marginalized groups in topics that do not concern only themselves. Someone’s age, sex, ethnic background, religion, legal status, disability, marital status and sexual orientation should only be mentioned where they are directly relevant to a story. Irrelevant references may create stigma and discrimination. COVID-19 should not be associated with any location, country and region, nationality and ethnicity – the virus can affect people of any background, nationality, race, religion, gender or ethnicity. Journalists have to do what they’ve always done and that is to produce information that’s accurate, fact-based, independent, unbiased and impartial and, above all, information which is showing humanity, which takes account of people who are most vulnerable, the people who need to know the most, the people of our communities who need to be protected.

Inclusive reporting also means that media should evaluate the language used. Reporting should look at the bigger picture and move away from the details of individuals, to avoid stigma and its potentially devastating impacts. Ideally, journalists should use neutral and fact-based language without elements of sensationalism. People should be portrayed as individual human beings instead of representatives of different minority groups. Media should reject the republication of hate speech or any information that encourages stereotyping and prejudices while publicly challenging these issues.