Airwaves counter pandemic falsehoods

JAKARTA－Hundreds of community radio stations in Indonesia have used the airwaves to help educate the public about the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among them is Rasi FM, in the Garut district of West Java.

Rasi FM's founder, Latief Rochyana, said that in the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak misinformation and hoaxes flooded social media, and confused residents were worried about where they could find correct information.

"There are massive amounts of COVID-19 information," Rochyana said. "Rasi FM has helped with sharing useful information and verifying some unverified information."

Rasi FM has been creative in its approach. There was a moment when one of its presenters inserted COVID-19 facts between music intervals from 2 pm to 10 pm. The presenter explained basic things such as what COVID-19 is, how dangerous it is and how to reduce the chance of infection.

Public service advertisements of one to two minutes produced by the community radio network JRKI have urged people to keep social distance, to use face masks and to wash hands with soap.

Occasionally Rasi FM has had medical experts and police officers as guests on talk shows.

Recently the station collaborated with secondary schools and training institutions to broadcast educational information when some residents could not join remote learning activities because of internet connection problems.

In Poso, Central Sulawesi, Mosintuwu FM, which has been reporting on community and social issues since 2015, is now focusing its efforts on becoming a COVID-19 emergency station.

Mosintuwu airs its programs from 6 am to 6 pm, in the local dialect.

One program is called Kabar-Kabar Desa, or Village News, which is on air every day from 8 am to 10 pm. The program is based on collaboration among 80 villages in the Poso district and surrounding areas. Through the program, the audience can listen to news about COVID-19 from other villagers.

"Thus, the emergency radio does not just broadcast information and clarifications from doctors, government officials and the COVID-19 task forces," said Lian Galigo, the station's founder. "Residents themselves can strengthen one another and give ideas about what should be done.

"Mosintuwu FM presents COVID-19 cases using the culture and perspective of local people here," Galigo said.

Sinam Sutarno, the chairman of JRKI, said the COVID-19 emergency radio movement has been running since March, when the pandemic reached Indonesia.

Information from the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health has been turned into audio material for broadcast by hundreds of community radio stations throughout Indonesia.

There are also radio stations that have COVID-19 survivors as guests on their programs. At least 102 of the 457 JRKI member community stations tell their listeners how to sort out the bad information from the good.

Xinhua