Designed to complement the Vaccinating Against Misinfodemics panel, the goal of this workshop is to address the difficulties that media producers and journalists face when trying to accurately communicate findings from new health research, and to highlight the ease with which health misinformation can spread from scientific articles through various forms of media.
We’ll take a user-driven approach to the problem by asking participants to consider their experiences working with scientific papers as journalists.
First, we’ll examine the journal abstracts of 5 health research articles that have led to serious misinfodemics - the spread of a particular health outcome or disease facilitated by viral misinformation. Then, we’ll ask participants to identify ways the structure and formats of scientific abstracts of these research articles may have lent themselves to being misinterpreted or misrepresented in media, with a focus on “translation” issues from global health and epidemiology through to general audiences via journalistic practice. Then we’ll decide on the top identified issues, and break into teams to address them. Teams will ideate upon new templates for health research study abstracts that are specifically useful for journalists. At the end of the workshop, teams will present their ideas with the wider group for feedback. Findings will be shared with the World Federation of Science Journalists.
Organised in association with Meedan.
