A resource by Jayne Cravens
via coyotecommunications.com & coyoteboard.com (same web site)
Nothing recommended in any other section of this guide will work in addressing rumors, myths, misinformation, fake news, etc., unless you have built trust and credibility with other organizations, the press and the general public. If those audiences don't trust you already and don't see you as a credible source of information, all of your outreach efforts to try to counter misinformation are going to fail. A great example of this is regarding how Liberia handled its Ebola crisis in 2014, as profiled in this March 3 story from The Washington Post, What the fight against Ebola can teach us about beating the coronavirus:
Containing Ebola in Liberia required a focus on two core issues. First, it was vital to find leaders whom people could trust. In Liberia, that meant community leaders such as Kou, popular musicians with large followings among young people, and pastors and imams who could mobilize their churches or mosques to push for safe behaviors... And communities mobilized from the bottom up to carry out door-to-door monitoring and tracing of the virus. All of this relied on planning, implementation and compliance — not on some medical or technological miracle. The virus was under control well before a vaccine was developed. As a result, Liberia is now better prepared to tackle the coronavirus than many countries that are just coming to grips with the outbreak. Washing our hands, stocking up on home supplies and avoiding public gatherings will reduce our chances of spreading the sickness... But to truly overcome health emergencies like this now and in the future, we need to mobilize communities and collectively rebuild the relationship between citizens and people in power.
Or consider this from Trust and the Coronavirus Pandemic: What are the Consequences of and for Trust? An Early Review of the Literature, published in August 2020 in Political Studies Review:
understanding the dynamics of trust, how it facilitates and
hinders policy responses, and also the likely effects of these
responses on trust are going to be fundamental questions in
policy and trust research in the future. In this article, we
review the early literature on the coronavirus pandemic and
political and social trust, summarise their findings and
highlight key challenges for future research. We show how the
studies shed light on trust’s association with implementation
of government measures, public compliance with them, mortality
rates and the effect of government action on levels of
trust... Understanding the dynamics of trust, how it
facilitates and hinders policy responses, and also the likely
effects of these responses on trust, are going to be
fundamental questions in policy and trust research in the
future.
But you probably aren't starting with a clean slate when it comes to communicating with a community. For instance, according to this article, in the USA: “Rural Americans & those with lower incomes & educational attainment are more likely to express skepticism about nonprofits... respondents from underserved communities most in need of support report the lowest levels of trust in nonprofits... In addition to being less educated and more likely to live in rural areas, those who distrust nonprofits also tend to be less politically active.” That means those serviced by an NGO or government office in your country may not trust that office!
Establishing a network of people and organizations that trust your staff takes time and needs to start BEFORE you face a crisis, BEFORE you face widespread misinformation.
Make a map of formal and informal, official and unofficial, social networks and leaders. You need to think of them as messengers - not just recipients of information, but as providers of information as well about your organization. These networks can be leveraged to deliver messaging, but only if they already know you and trust you. They can also be used to learn how your desired messages are being received. You want to garner their ongoing public involvement/endorsement, both on how to deliver the message and advising on how to counter hostilities/fears. This means that, long before a rumor breaks out, you need to build and maintain relationships and continually collaborate closely with:
Your staff needs to meet with these groups via
both formal meetings (speeches, conferences, memos, press
conferences) and informal communications (meetings over meals or
during community celebrations). They need to know what your
organization does, how it makes decisions, how its funded, where
it gets information, etc. They need to know who your staff is
and what their credentials are. In short, they need to have a
clear picture of why you are worth trusting and why they should
listen to you.
This article from Charity Village, on How Nonprofits Can Build Their Own Community
from Scratch, is focused on cultivating donors, and it's
focused on online communities. But it's framing of community is
perfect for how community is talked about in the pages you are
reading now:
Physical spaces like neighbourhoods, schools, and places of worship can foster community, but they are not communities themselves. Members of a community have a sense of belonging to something larger than themselves – they feel safe in their community and able to care for other community members. They have an individual and collective sense that they can, as part of that community, make a difference and matter to each other. There are both formal and informal communities. Groups of friends or those with a shared interest, such as gardening clubs or regulars at a coffee shop, are examples of informal communities.
It goes on to reference this 2015 article from Stanford Social Innovation Review, "What is Community Anyway?", which is also worth your time to read.
The Charity Village article has a list of suggestions under "let’s highlight some key concepts around building a nonprofit community and attracting new donors" that has some great advice on cultivating community even if you aren't cultivating them to donate financially. It notes that it takes time for people to know your cause, get emotionally involved in your work, and trust your organization. To that end:
A great example of all of these principles put into practice to fight against misinformation is in Nigeria, where religious leaders are using the teachings of Islam and local community volunteers are being leveraged in Nigeria to educate communities regarding the value of educating girls, breastfeeding, routine immunization (vaccines) and other public health and development issues - this is chronicled in Innovation in Action: Fighting Polio in Nigeria from the UN Foundation. Here's a similar story about this model from UNICEF in Nigeria, in this BBC story.
When misinformation breaks out, you are going to leverage the network of formal and informal community leaders, religious leaders, unions, doctors and others. But you must remember that by the time you reach out to these groups about myth-spreading they may already have started believing the myth. One meeting will NOT fully educate this (or any) group on how to communicate effectively. One meeting won't change minds if they already are leaning towards believing misinformation. Hostilities tend to be reduced when people believe their concerns are being heard and addressed. Allow those who are opposed to an activity, or who might be, to voice concerns, both publicly and privately. Remember that one meeting will probably not be enough for fears to be aired, and honest feedback may come through unofficial channels.
The more a development or aid activity is seen as outsiders-coming-in, the more likely it can be derailed by rumors. By contrast, the more development activities or government initiatives are perceived as owned and controlled by the people to be served, the more rumor-proof such activities will be. Who are the local "owners" of your development or aid activities and what is your relationship like with them? Building relationships with the aforementioned groups will get your message to "local" owners/stakeholders.
The role corporations and businesses can play in fighting misinformation cannot be over-stated. In this article from in the Journal of Business and Technical Communication, "Frozen Meat Against COVID-19 Misinformation: An Analysis of Steak-Umm and Positive Expectancy Violations," the paper's authors note, "Instead of finding new ways to promote its products, the company shifted its focus to the public’s urgent needs, breaking down possible approaches to navigating information flow during the pandemic. This resulted in overwhelming praise on social and news media, including almost 60,000 new Twitter followers within a week. Drawing on expectancy violation theory, this case study examines Steak-umm’s strategy, the content of social media responses, and why the approach was successful."
The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), is connecting
journalists with health experts and newsroom leaders through a
webinar series on COVID-19. They have produced
various materials as part of the ICFJ Global
Health Crisis Reporting Forum on Facebook. In a webinar to examine global trends in COVID-19
disinformation, Andy Carvin, senior fellow at the Digital
Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab), noted. “If it's only
professionals working to correct the public record or clarify
what the science is, there will continue to be misinformation
and disinformation spreading.”
There is a free media literacy course from public media station
KQED in the USA: Evaluating
Online Sources: Checking Facts and Identifying
Misinformation. The description says, "Prepare your
students to be savvy online researchers by giving them the tools
they need to distinguish facts from misinformation. Gain
confidence and resources for teaching how to evaluate
information and spot unreliable sources." But while this is
designed for students, it really is excellent for any audience.
Further to building trust - are you willing to be
open with others about when you have believed in
misinformation? It can be a good way to show people that
we're all capable of believing something that isn't true, that
you aren't being judgemental about people's intelligence or
capabilities when it comes to talking about misinformation.
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