GCRI · Gesellschaft und menschliche Entwicklung

Medien und Informationssysteme

In a crisis, what people know depends on news media, social platforms, messaging apps, authority channels and word of mouth. These Systeme 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.

02Die Frage

Media and information systems: how the risk develops.

Media and public information as social Systeme. The dossier below sets out how the risk develops, what is measured, where the data come from, how it is modelled and who decides.

Mechanismus

Local news is shrinking

Loss of local journalism leaves communities with fewer trusted sources and less scrutiny of local institutions.

Mechanismus

Messaging apps carry crisis information

Private messaging groups spread information quickly, including rumours, and are hard for authorities to monitor or correct.

Mechanismus

Platforms amplify what engages

Recommendation systems favour content that draws attention, which can amplify fear, outrage and false claims in a crisis.

Mechanismus

Trusted messengers matter

People act on information from sources they trust, such as community leaders, health workers and local media, more than on distant authorities.

03Monitoring

Social protection and cohesion.

Die Ansicht, die ein Team nutzen würde, um dieses Thema zu verfolgen: seine Messgrößen, Zustände und Entscheidungen. Namen sind Beispiele, Werte sind illustrativ.

Social protection and cohesion

Media and information systems · Urban ward 9 · Year 2

Survey wave closedGCRI · Gesellschaft und menschliche Entwicklung

Coverage by quintile

050100share of households receiving supportQ1Q2Q3Q4Q5

Cohesion survey

Trust in neighbours6351▲ 2
Trust in local authority4852▲ 1
Reported discrimination911▲ 2
Social protection and cohesion: the screen’s structure, terms and states for Media and information systems.Beispielnamen und beispielhafte Werte; ein Entwurf, kein Eintrag und kein Live-System.
04Domänenübergreifend

Information systems carry risk messages for every domain.

05Methoden und Evidenz

How media and information systems is modelled, measured and tested.

Das Modell, seine Annahmen, seine Daten und seine Unsicherheit in der Form, in der eine Wissenschaftlerin oder ein Ingenieur sie prüfen würde. Die Strukturen folgen veröffentlichten Methoden. Die dargestellten Werte sind illustrativ, keine Befunde.

Systemmodell

The couplings between the systems in media and information systems: signs of influence, a reinforcing and a balancing loop, and cross-links where stress jumps.

++−+GesellschaftInformationGemeinschaftenWirtschaftR verstärkendB ausgleichend
Causal loop diagram from the page’s systems; signs show the direction of influence. Illustrative structure for a system dynamics or network model, not estimated couplings.
FAIR-Leitprinzipien · GO FAIR und FORCE11W3C PROV · World Wide Web ConsortiumHinweise zur einheitlichen Behandlung von Unsicherheiten · IPCCCEOS Analysis Ready Data · Committee on Earth Observation Satellites
06Indikatoren

Was gemessen wird und wie gut.

Jeder Indikator trägt seine Einheit, seinen Rhythmus, die Art der zugrunde liegenden Quelle und die Evidenzkennzeichnung, die ein Wert tragen würde. Es werden keine Werte gezeigt: Ein Programm liefert sie unter seiner eigenen Autorität.

IndikatorEinheitTaktQuellentypKennzeichnung
Trust in newspercent trusting most news most of the timejährlichNews consumption surveysBERICHTET
Main source of news by typeProzent der BefragtenjährlichNews consumption surveysBERICHTET
Journalists killed or imprisonedAnzahljährlichPress freedom monitorsBERICHTET
Local news outletscount per regionje BewertungMedia mapping studiesGESCHÄTZT
Rumours tracked in crisis responsecount by themeje EreignisCommunity feedback SystemeBERICHTET
Population reached by authority crisis messagespercentje EreignisPost-event surveysBERICHTET
07Quellen

Woher die Evidenz stammt.

Benannte öffentliche Datensätze und institutionelle Aufzeichnungen, jeweils mit ihrer Lizenzklasse. Quellen auf Vereinbarungsbasis werden nur zu ihren Bedingungen genutzt und niemals weiterveröffentlicht.

QuelleWas es liefertLizenzklasse
Reuters Institute Digital News ReportNews use and trust across countriesPublic report, terms per publisher
UNESCO Observatory of Killed Journalists and World Trends in Freedom of ExpressionSafety of journalists and media freedomPublic, UNESCO terms
Committee to Protect Journalists dataJournalists killed and imprisonedPublic, terms to check
WHO infodemic management resourcesMethods for managing information in health emergenciesPublic, WHO terms of use
IFRC and partner community feedback and rumour tracking guidanceMethods for listening to communities in crisesPublic, IFRC terms (to check)
08Entscheidungen

Wer entscheidet und wozu die Evidenz dient.

Society and Human Development prepares evidence. The decisions below are taken by the authorities named, under their own rules, and never by the platform.

Wer entscheidetDie FrageEvidenz, der diese Seite dient
Public health and emergency authoritiesHow to reach people with accurate information in crisesEcosystem assessments; trust profiles
Media organisations and regulatorsHow to support local journalism and information qualityMedia mapping and freedom evidence
Humanitarian agenciesHow to listen to and respond to community concernsRumour tracking evidence

Ergebnisse, die dieses Thema hervorbringt

  • Information ecosystem assessments for crisis communication
  • Rumour tracking and community feedback methods
  • Media access and trust profiles
  • Evidence notes for risk communication
09Kernfragen

Die Fragen, die Fachleute stellen.

  • How is the information ecosystem structured, and who controls its key channels?
  • What happens to public knowledge when local news declines?
  • How do information flows behave during crises, and where do they break?
  • Which communities are poorly served by mainstream channels?
  • How do economic models of media affect the quality of risk information?
10Mechanismen

The ecosystem and its fragilities.

Information ecosystems combine professional media, platforms, messaging apps, community channels and authority 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 authority 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 Systeme share some features: diverse sources, trusted local intermediaries, channels that work without the internet such as radio, information in the languages people speak, and authority 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.

11Methoden und Daten

Methods and limits.

Mapping

Ecosystem mapping

Mapping outlets, audiences and flows of information in a place.

Inhalt

Content analysis

Systematic analysis of coverage and narratives; large-scale methods need careful validation.

Audience

Audience research

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.

12Methoden

Wie es untersucht wird und was die Methoden nicht sagen können.

  1. Sozial- und VerhaltenswissenschaftenErhebungsdesign für schwer erreichbare Gruppen · Qualitative und partizipative ForschungHier angewandt
  2. Kausale Inferenz und WirkungsevaluationEvaluierung von Bargeldtransfers · Auswirkungen von Katastrophen auf Haushalte · Evaluierung von BildungsprogrammenHier angewandt
  3. Raumstatistik und GeostatistikKleinräumige Armutsschätzung · Überlagerung von Verwundbarkeit und GefahrHier angewandt
13Where this page’s references

Where this page’s references lead.

Die Gremien und Dokumente, vor deren Hintergrund diese Seite gelesen wird. Status und Ausgaben ändern sich; jeder Link führt zur herausgebenden Stelle.

14Fragen

Fragen und Antworten.

What is an infodemic?
An overabundance of information, including false or misleading information, during a health emergency, in WHO usage.
Why does local journalism matter in a crisis?
Because local outlets provide specific, trusted information about what is happening nearby and hold local institutions to account.
What is rumour tracking?
Systematically collecting and analysing rumours and questions from communities so responders can address concerns and correct false information.
Does the platform rate media outlets?
No. It studies information systems and their effects on public outcomes.
How is this different from the chapter?
The chapter organises a community of researchers around the subject; this topic page sets out the science.
Is GCRI a media regulator?
No. GCRI does not regulate, certify, license or approve.
BerichteBeitragen

Evidenz von dieser Seite aus beitragen.

Berichte is the Consortium’s quarterly publication. What you know about this subject can become evidence, a case or a correction in the next edition, credited to you and published under CC BY 4.0 where it is your own work.

GCRIGesellschaft und menschliche EntwicklungRisiko und Resilienz nationaler SystemeEvidenzpapier
Gesellschaft und menschliche Entwicklung

Bringen Sie eine Methode, einen Datensatz oder eine Frage mit.

Information und Anfragen sind heute offen. Eine Anfrage erhält ein Aktenzeichen und nennt den nächsten Schritt; Bewerbungen, Zahlungen, Rechenzuteilungen und Registrierungen öffnen erst, wenn Team, Bedingungen und Prüfkapazität bestehen.

The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation

Science · evidence · measurement

Not for profit

Our articles, maps and twins are free to read and free to republish. Readers and partners keep it that way.

Partner with us

Who funds us

GCRI is a not-for-profit institution. To ask who funds a piece of work, use the funding questions form.

Independence

Editors and the expert reviewers named on each article decide what we publish. Funders and partners do not review or approve articles before publication.

Licence

Articles: CC BY 4.0. Figures, maps, twins and data: CC BY 4.0. Other uses: ask through the permissions form.