By: Adrian Fattah (Chair of the Yogyakarta Regional Independent Social Media Activists Forum)
“Make it easy not it difficult for, give the good news, do not make people run away” That sentence written by Dr. KH. Malik Madany, MA, while still a preacher ‘ am NU some time ago.
These words are not only religious principles, but are the principles of life and humanity. Under no circumstances should we provoke provocations that cause people to run, fear, and worry. We must be able to make people happy, happy, and peaceful.
In the context of the format of reporting on Covid-19, this rule is very fitting. Give good news and do not provoke and make people run because of fear. Good news makes people optimistic and motivated. On the contrary provocation makes people run, drop, passively, and not excited.
Positive information, educational content, and empathy journalism must be made a common standard. Psychological conditions are no less important to consider in the context of tackling this dangerous virus. Sometimes, a strong physique can be weak and fall due to a decreased psychological condition.
Experts have stated, that excessive provocation and reporting can make people enter into a circle of fear as a result of weak body immunity and easily attacked by this pandemic.
Negative information, hoaks , and all kinds of other provocations, have an impact on the psychological community that causes anxiety, to insomnia and difficulty controlling emotions, to be angry at home.
Now is the time for us to leave the provocation and the format of the news that cause fear, create panic, and public anxiety. We need to turn to positive information, spread good news that this pandemic can be fought, and people will win.
Hoaks , provocations, vague rumors, and all kinds of negative information we need to throw away. This does not mean covering up the facts of Covid-19 in the field, but the data and facts should not be dramatized for the purposes of likes , comments , and shares , the ultimate goal of which is rating and profit for a moment.
If giving good news with positive information is work out, then information sharing is inward work. Both must be done. Sometimes we may have made good news and positive information, but other people still produce negative information. In this case filtering of information needs to be done.
One way to listen to advice and direction from the government as a reliable source so as to avoid the hoax that is spread. We listen to advice from the government, stay away from billions of hoaks , and implement directives that we can hold from authoritative sources.
We should not easily believe the information distributed on social media and WhattsApp groups whose source is unclear. Now it’s time for us to fill in WA groups and social media with exciting content. For this reason, not only Covid-19 positive news that we read and share, but must also be accompanied by positive information in the form of educational content about the prevention and spread of the virus and information that people recovering from Covid-19 far more than those who died.
As part of the community, we as good citizens must also be able to protect a minimum of the people around us so as not to consume hoax information and negative content easily. The issue of hoaxes is not just a problem for the government alone, but it requires the participation and moral responsibility of all people and elements in this country.
To root hoaks we need to join hands. The chain of spreading false news must be broken because it will only worsen the situation in the midst of a national emergency crisis due to the Covid-19 pandemic.