The poor and marginalised were among the worst hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. They did not have immediate and ready access to treatment, vaccine and correct information on the viral disease. Unverified forwards on WhatsApp and social media led to vaccine hesitancy and that slowed down the process of recovering from the pandemic.
Video Volunteers and The Quint partnered together to use to same medium - social media, to counter misinformation. Using the vast reach Video Volunteers has in rural India through its Community Correspondents, together they distributed fact-checked and verified information to dispel rumors on the disease and encourage people to get vaccinated.
Apart from social media campaigns, on-ground events like 'Jaan Jao, Jaan Bachao' were organised in the tea gardens of West Bengal to spread awareness about the disease and its vaccine.
A Call for Research on AI’s Role in Amplifying the Insights of the Systemically Unheard
The article argues that systematically ignoring and silencing the voices of the poor and marginalized worldwide does not serve society or democracy well and must be countered. While new technologies such as AI could provide an opportunity for change, we contend that these technologies need to account more effectively for...
How to Juggle a Career as a Community Correspondent as well a Mainstream Media Reporter
When the staff at Gannett newspapers in the US coined the term MOJO (Mobile Journalism) to describe new ways of gathering and distributing news using emerging technologies in 2005, they would not have imagined its virality and use ten years later. Ask new media journalists and our Community Correspondents Shah...