MRCG VALIDATES NATIONAL STUDY ON INFORMATION POLLUTION ON COVID-19 IN SIERRA LEONE
In the quest to address the issue of misinformation and disinformation in the country, the Media Reform Coordinating Croup with support from UNDP
has on Thursday 11th December 2020 validated a national study on information pollution with specific bearing to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The exercise which was organized at the Trivoli hall in Freetown represented the views of participants from all regions across the country to ensure a balanced validation process. The National Coordinator for MRCG, Dr. Francis Sowa in his statement, said that the study looked at information pollution in the information environment within the context of Covid-19 in Sierra Leone and that the data collected from the study will be used for future planning and other initiatives. He continued that the study used Covid-19 as a case study to determine the channels, influencers and amplifiers of fake news in the information environment. He said the study involved both qualitative and quantitative methods by two different consultants and that views of different persons from the sixteen districts of Sierra Leone were captured which makes it reliable and credible and hence the findings will be used for future planning.
UNDP’s Media Project Manager, Mr. Hassan Jalloh, thanked the MRCG and the consultants for their work and reiterated UNDP support to the media and national development. Mr. Jalloh further explained that ‘infodemic’, a blend of misinformation and epidemic has been a serious challenge across the globe and Sierra Leone not being an exception. He said this study will help change the narratives.
Both Consultants presented their findings to the participants for their input and validation. For the qualitative study, Dr Victor Suma said that his research discovered that radio is the most trusted channel of reliable information and that journalists are the most reliable sources of information as stated by respondents across the country. Mr. Bartholomew Bockarie on the side of the quantitative study revealed that his enumerators found out that respondents across the country preferred traditional media to social media or any other means of getting information.
The participants after making their inputs unanimously validated both studies.