People are essentially storytellers. Ancient cave paintings are proof of this. People also prefer exciting narratives to factually accurate reports.
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·3 minutes read
People are essentially storytellers. Ancient cave paintings are proof of this. People also prefer exciting narratives to factually accurate reports.
Therefore, throughout human history, not just anyone can be a narrator. Only the wise are selected to be narrators who can tell fascinating stories without understating or exaggerating the facts.
At this time when the Covid-19 pandemic is attacking the world, storytellers are being tested. Will they contribute to developing human nature in painting the many colors of life, or will they become weaknesses that drain life of all color?
Journalists are the narrators of modern times. To overcome the abovementioned human weaknesses, journalism has been developed as a profession. A very strict code of ethics governs the profession as measures of self-discipline. Meanwhile, the editorial room provides external control.
However, in this digital era, any and all individuals can easily create content and distribute it without editorial oversight. As a consequence, false and fake news have proliferated to the extent that hoaxes are also spreading like a pandemic.
When all elements of this nation are struggling to deal with the epidemic, many are still unconscionably producing false news. Data at the Communications and Informatics Ministry shows that 568 hoaxes related to Covid-19 had been detected between 23 January and 21 April.
The police showed evidence of disclosure of the spread of hoaks related to Covid-19, Monday (30/3/2020), at the Jakarta Police Headquarters, Jakarta.
The hoaxes are being spread across a variety of social media platforms and comprise a total of 1,260 cases. Most of these were distributed on Facebook (885), Twitter (356), Instagram (11), and YouTube (8) (Kompas, Wednesday 22/4/2020). Other data shows that 81 percent of content shared on Facebook and 56-58 percent on WhatsApp were hoaxes.
One of the widely circulating hoaxes, for example, claims that people who have never traveled abroad will not become infected with Covid-19. Others link the disease to political, ethnic, religious, racial, or inter-societal issues. The situation is certainly alarming and should not be underestimated.
Indonesia has the second lowest literacy level in the world, and 65 percent of its people believe in these hoaxes. These hoaxes will mislead the public into taking the wrong course of action to endanger public health and even national security.
This issue has become extra housework for the government, especially the Communications and Informatics Ministry and law enforcement. All hoaxes need to be traced immediately through digital tracing and the culprits dealt with. Social network providers that do not immediately block hoaxes must be handed sanctions. Just as with the fight against Covid-19, in addition to treating the infected, the chain of transmission must be broken.
The collaboration between the state and mainstream media needs to be optimized continuously to ensure that the country’s nearly 270 million citizens have access to quality information. Education must also be encouraged.
Do not be easily impressed by fantastic stories. Choose to refer to factually accurate information. This is no easy matter because of human nature.
