On 23 March 2020, UK communications regulator Ofcom issued guidance on content standards during the pandemic. Building on the generally applicable Broadcast Content Code, the Ofcom guidance highlighted the importance of sections 2 and 5. Section 2 deals with harm and offence; section 5 with impartiality and accuracy. Continue reading
The International Forum for Responsible Media Blog
Tag: Coronavirus (Page 1 of 3)
Local newspapers have seen sales of their print copies in decline for decades and, with regional newspaper groups regularly cutting staff, it has felt like UK local news journalism might be on the way out – to be replaced by WhatsApp groups or Facebook chat. Continue reading
A Daily Mail article (since edited), “What they DON’T tell you about COVID“, published 20 November 2020, claimed that official projections of Covid deaths and infection rates have been significantly overstated when compared to actual data – suggesting that lockdown measures were an unnecessary infringement on personal freedoms. Continue reading
“Plandemic”. This was the name of a 26-minute video spreading misinformation about Covid-19 which went viral (pun intended) after it was posted online on Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo and a separate website set up to share the video in early May 2020. The New York Times reports that it had been viewed 8 million times within a week of its release. Continue reading
When the Telegraph encourages us to believe that we have a problem with people arriving from Pakistan and spreading COVID-19, we know what it is up to. The lead item on the Telegraph news site on 26 June announced: ‘Exclusive: Half of UK’s imported COVID-19 infections are from Pakistan’. Continue reading
In recent weeks, the House of Commons select committee on justice has been assured by members of the government, judiciary and court service that open justice continues, despite changes to the nature of physical hearings, and increased use of technology for many types of hearings. Continue reading
The decision by the UK government to stop publishing the international comparative death rate in its daily briefings from May 12 attracted widespread criticism. Many people saw this as an attempt to cover up just how badly the UK has handled the pandemic. Continue reading
How well the media holds the UK government to account over its handling of the pandemic is a question that has been fiercely debated over recent weeks. Journalists have been attacked for asking difficult questions at press briefings, while broadcasters have been criticised for challenging government decisions. Continue reading
In recent months, governments around the world have sought to manage and mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic upon public health – it has a propensity to overwhelm health service provision – and to limit the impact of the pandemic on the economy in their countries. As it is a novel virus, about which little is known, a uniform response strategy has not yet emerged. Continue reading
The saga of the UK’s contact tracing app has barely begun but already it is fraught with problems. Technical problems – the app barely works on iPhones, for example, and communication between iPhones requires someone with an Android phone to be in close proximity – are just the start of it. Continue reading
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