I used to be heartened when, greater than a 12 months into the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Surgeon Basic Vivek Murthy took a stand publicly towards misinformation, calling it “an pressing menace to public well being.”
I couldn’t have agreed extra.
From the start of the pandemic, the main focus of my employer, a nationally ranked well being system, had develop into safeguarding public well being. And the work of our company communications staff had turned to sharing correct, well timed info and serving as an vital adjunct to under-resourced public well being businesses. Our aim through the deadliest pandemic in additional than 100 years was to cease the unfold and save lives.
By the point the vaccine turned accessible in late 2020, greater than 26,000 folks in our service space had contracted COVID and greater than 300 had died. Different elements of the nation fared a lot worse.
Quickly spreading social media messages encouraging skepticism of the vaccine’s effectiveness have been sabotaging the heroic efforts of those that developed the doubtless life-saving vaccine in file time — in addition to these of our frontline caregivers, who have been exhausted after a 12 months combating the pandemic and now confronted anger and resentment as they labored to rescue critically in poor health sufferers, most of whom have been unvaccinated.
As communicators, our staff wasn’t simply combating a pandemic, we have been waging a warfare — a warfare on misinformation.
Whereas freedom of speech permits folks to say issues which might be deceptive or just fallacious, the First Modification additionally has its restrict. You don’t yell “fireplace” in a crowded theater, for instance, with out penalties. Equally, social media should assume accountability for the knowledge being shared on its platforms as their dominance as a information supply grows.
Luckily, social media platforms have been proactive in growing considerate interventions to handle false and deceptive posts. As PR professionals, we should do our half by first committing to sharing solely info that’s correct and truthful, and that serves the general public curiosity. We additionally should actively advocate to eradicate info that misinforms or intentionally misleads the general public.
PRSA, because the voice of our occupation, has taken a stand on misinformation with the Voices4Everyone initiative that seeks to fight misinformation by selling media literacy, and offering training and thought management on the subject. Our affiliation can also be talking up on high-profile misinformation circumstances and offering clear steering for members by publishing PRSA Moral Requirements Advisory 21, which advises that we:
- Learn and confirm the validity of sources for info earlier than sharing it.
- Educate staff to reduce the danger of spreading false info on social media or different shops.
- Use applicable language to precisely talk, fairly than gentle pedal, the seriousness of a scenario.
- Make investments time and assets to proactively establish and deal with the unfold of false info by presenting credible sources that share factual info.
Analysis exhibits that almost all of People imagine misinformation represents a critical menace to democracy and to our economic system. It can be life-threatening, as we noticed through the pandemic.
Linda Staley, APR, Fellow PRSA, a member of the PRSA Board of Ethics and Skilled Requirements, is previous president of the Blue Ridge Chapter.
[Illustration credit: bakhtiarzein]
