Faizel Patel – 15/072021
The director of Media Monitoring Africa William Bird says the media has performed extremely well reporting on the riots across Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
Bird was speaking to Radio Islam about the current unrest that has gripped South Africa and being broadcast across the globe.
The media has been overstretched with the riots while at the same time reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa.
Bird says the media have put a lot of effort in reporting on the riots.
“They’ve been out, they’ve been going into situations where they’ve been threatened, they’ve been attacked, they’ve risked their lives to go into places all in the middle of a pandemic still in order to let us know what’s going on.”
Bird says people should follow credible and qualified journalists and reputable media outlets to get verified information about the current crisis.
“We the media have covered it well, so it’s unlikely that that’s the result. The more likely instance of that kind of copycat idea is going to be coming from social media where its spreading videos, unverified and just encouraging violence and looting.”
Bird says people should refrain from forwarding unverified content on social media because it can intensify the current crisis the country is facing.
“Be very sceptical of any content you receive especially if it’s from your family and loved ones. They are staring things with you not because they’re bad but because they’re trying to alert you ‘oh my goodness, oh my goodness’ because all of us are feeling anxious and fearful for what’s happening in our country. So it’s very easy to give into that fear and that’s why the best thing to do is don’t share that, go to credible media. If it’s there then you can share it, if it isn’t, avoid it.”
Bird says government needs to communicate more frequently and better with the public to keep them informed about what is happening in the country.
Listen to the interview with William Bird
0 Comments