What We’re Reading: WhatsApp Engagement, Media Survival, and Russian Disinformation

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This week’s Friday 5, where we round up our favorite reads from around the online world in English, includes a Bellingcat post on what to look out for when reporting on Russian disinformation, how Documented is using WhatsApp to maximize reporting and audience reach, and the Oxford research group’s global effort to gather publicly available data on the coronavirus.

How (Not) To Report On Russian Disinformation (Bellingcat)

Bellingcat’s Aric Toler took aim at Russian disinformation coverage by Western outlets which lack “sufficient context and nuance” in their storytelling, using a New York Times article as a case study in “what not to do in covering disinformation.” Among other issues, Toler underscored the importance of identifying your garden variety bot from a state-sponsored one, the difference between paid and unpaid trolls — “also classified as a jerk, or someone who simply disagrees with you” — and sorting through the varied levels of autonomy among Russian newspapers and websites which are, as he points out, different from often less-independent televised news. He knows firsthand how difficult it is to navigate disinformation in that space, including how he once inaccurately assessed a Twitter account which was later revealed “Russian-made account masquerading as an American conservative.”

How Documented Uses WhatsApp to Reach Local Immigrant Communities (American Press Institute)

As this piece about a nonprofit news outlet dedicated to New York City’s immigrant community points out, WhatsApp has more than 2 billion users worldwide. The Q&A with Documented’s co-founder Mazin Sidahmed shows how its reporters are using the platform to solicit questions and concerns about the virus, as well as ideas for audience-building, including direct outreach to specific communities and Facebook ads. Also on engagement, check out this Q&A with ProPublica’s Maya Miller on COVID-19 Sourcing where Miller talks about creating a callout form to find sources related to COVID-19. (Read more about ProPublica’s engagement reporting in this pre-coronavirus Q&A by GIJN’s Eunice Au.)

Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) – Statistics and Research (Our World in Data)

This week’s New York Times visualization showing the massive spikes in COVID-19 deaths in countries around world compared with “normal” death rates brought the devastating state of the pandemic into perspective. To help muddle through the onslaught of imperfect, publicly available data, the data scientists at Oxford University’s Our World in Data are clearly showing their work and sourcing and explaining what is — and isn’t — included in data, spelling out, in layman’s terms, terms such as exponential growth. Download a daily updated COVID-19 dataset or use their open-source code or charts for free, with attribution.