Wambui Wamunyu Annotations

How are people and organizations sharing information and knowledge about COVID-19? What boundaries (e.g. urban/rural; national; language) are being crossed or further fortified due to these information flows?

Tuesday, July 14, 2020 - 5:57am

The legacy media (print, television and radio ) have been important contributors to the sharing of the information about the Corona Virus pandemic. Through a variety of stories - survivor accounts, the spread of the disease,rates of infection, government management of the pandemic, etc - in multiple languages, the media have contributed towards a greater understanding of the disease among the Kenyan citizenry, and exposed the strengths and failures of government management of the pandemic (e.g. through reporting questionable events/practices related to COVID-19 monies). This is even while the mostly commercial media are undergoing severe challenges including paycuts, job losses, and heavy losses in advertising revenue. 

The need for credible, balanced information has remained evident, even as a traditional primary source of that information - the legacy media - has provided it amidst tough challenges.

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