The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI)
In a crisis, what people know depends on news media, social platforms, messaging apps, official channels and word of mouth. These systems can save lives by spreading accurate warnings and guidance, or spread rumours and false information that cost them. This page sets out how information systems work in crises and over time, how information quality and access are measured, and what evidence serves the authorities, media and civil society involved.
GCRI · In development · service level R0
Crisis information is what people learn about a crisis through news media, platforms, messaging apps, official channels and word of mouth. Shrinking local news, fast-spreading private messages and amplification of engaging content shape it, and people act most on information from messengers they trust.
For media and information systems, in GCRI's spatial-intelligence reading, the map opens on population density, true-colour imagery and land cover with true colour from NASA GIBS, framed on Latin America and the Caribbean; every other NASA layer, live feed and forecast waits in the layer list.
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NASA GIBS / EOSDIS · ASTER GDEM (METI, NASA) · Blue Marble (NASA) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Natural Earth
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For media and information systems, in GCRI's spatial-intelligence reading, the map opens on population density, true-colour imagery and land cover with true colour from NASA GIBS, framed on Latin America and the Caribbean; every other NASA layer, live feed and forecast waits in the layer list.Satellite and model products as NASA publishes them, each with its own date; indicators, not assessments of any place; claim ceiling INTEGRATED.
Layers and dates
The working screen behind this subject: its structure, terms and states. Names are placeholders and values illustrative.
Media and information systems · Urban ward 9 · Year 2
| Trust in neighbours | 63 | 51 | ▲ 2 |
| Trust in local authority | 48 | 52 | ▲ 1 |
| Reported discrimination | 9 | 11 | ▲ 2 |
Media and public information as social systems. The dossier below sets out how the risk develops, what is measured, where the data come from, how it is modelled and who decides.
Loss of local journalism leaves communities with fewer trusted sources and less scrutiny of local institutions.
Private messaging groups spread information quickly, including rumours, and are hard for authorities to monitor or correct.
Recommendation systems favour content that draws attention, which can amplify fear, outrage and false claims in a crisis.
People act on information from sources they trust, such as community leaders, health workers and local media, more than on distant authorities.
Each term as this page uses it. Where a standard-setting body defines the term, the wording follows that body.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Risk communication | The exchange of information and advice between experts, authorities and people facing a risk. |
| Infodemic | An overabundance of information, including false information, during a health emergency. |
| Trusted messenger | A person or source whose information people believe and act on. |
Each indicator carries its unit, its cadence, the kind of source behind it and the evidence label a value would carry. No values are shown: a programme supplies them under its own authority.
| Indicator | Unit | Cadence | Source type | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trust in news | percent trusting most news most of the time | annual | News consumption surveys | REPORTED |
| Main source of news by type | percent of respondents | annual | News consumption surveys | REPORTED |
| Journalists killed or imprisoned | count | annual | Press freedom monitors | REPORTED |
| Local news outlets | count per region | per assessment | Media mapping studies | ESTIMATED |
| Rumours tracked in crisis response | count by theme | per event | Community feedback systems | REPORTED |
| Population reached by official crisis messages | percent | per event | Post-event surveys | REPORTED |
The topic as a computational graph: named sources feed the methods, an evidence review gates the outputs, and the decisions stay with the authorities that hold them.
Fig. 02Nodes carry their type, two metric rows and a state; connectors show what feeds what; dashed frames name the owners; the timeline is the cadence. Design of the pipeline, not a record of a run.
Named public datasets and institutional records, each with its licence class. Sources by agreement are used only under their terms and never republished.
| Source | What it gives | Licence class |
|---|---|---|
| Reuters Institute Digital News Report | News use and trust across countries | Public report, terms per publisher |
| UNESCO Observatory of Killed Journalists and World Trends in Freedom of Expression | Safety of journalists and media freedom | Public, UNESCO terms |
| Committee to Protect Journalists data | Journalists killed and imprisoned | Public, terms to check |
| WHO infodemic management resources | Methods for managing information in health emergencies | Public, WHO terms of use |
| IFRC and partner community feedback and rumour tracking guidance | Methods for listening to communities in crises | Public, IFRC terms (to check) |
Society and Human Development prepares evidence. The decisions below are taken by the authorities named, under their own rules, and never by the platform.
| Who decides | The question | Evidence this page serves |
|---|---|---|
| Public health and emergency authorities | How to reach people with accurate information in crises | Ecosystem assessments; trust profiles |
| Media organizations and regulators | How to support local journalism and information quality | Media mapping and freedom evidence |
| Humanitarian agencies | How to listen to and respond to community concerns | Rumour tracking evidence |
Information ecosystems combine professional media, platforms, messaging apps, community channels and official sources. The decline of local journalism in many places has reduced coverage of local government, hazards and public health. Platforms have become major gatekeepers, and their ranking and moderation choices shape exposure to information. Encrypted messaging networks carry both community support and rumour, and are hard to observe.
During crises, demand for information surges while normal channels may fail through power and network outages. Rumours fill gaps when official information is slow or distrusted. Language, literacy, disability and connectivity determine who receives timely information. Concentration of ownership and dependence on advertising revenue influence what is covered and how.
Resilient information systems share some features: diverse sources, trusted local intermediaries, channels that work without the internet such as radio, information in the languages people speak, and official communicators who are open about uncertainty and correct themselves quickly. These features can be studied, compared and strengthened.
Public service and community media often play an outsized role in crises because they reach people without internet access and are locally trusted. Their funding and independence are therefore part of a society's risk infrastructure, a point the field documents with comparative evidence across countries.
Mapping outlets, audiences and flows of information in a place.
Systematic analysis of coverage and narratives; large-scale methods need careful validation.
Surveys and qualitative work on how people find and judge information.
Limits: platform data access is restricted, private messaging is largely unobservable, and rapidly changing technology dates findings quickly.
The current service level is R0: information and enquiries. An enquiry receives a reference and names the next step; applications, payments, compute allocations and registrations open only when their team, terms and review capacity exist.