COVID-19 pandemic tested the ability of governments

The COVID-19 pandemic has tested the ability of governments around the world to take action and confront the virus, a Bahrain media consultant told a virtual journalism symposium this week.

Throughout the pandemic, some countries showed they were better ready to handle the situation, Habib Toumi, media consultant at the Ministry of Information of Bahrain, said during the online World Journalists Conference 2020, which was hosted by the Journalists Association of South Korea from Sept 14 to 16.

"As each government had its own considerations and views for the most appropriate way to deal with the virus, it became obvious there would be no universal response to the coronavirus," he said.

He said that while some countries swung into action, others remained passive and vehemently denied the virus was a real threat, and it is frustrating that the world did have a head start regarding how to deal with grave international health crisis.

He added that the countries that put the national focus on people's safety, dignity and right to remain economically productive during the sharp economic downturn and on how people cooperated and complied with the temporary precautionary measures, should be widely praised and applauded, including Bahrain.

The pandemic has also challenged the media to rise to their responsibilities and counter the "toxic disinfodemic of disinformation and misinformation" that used volume and velocity to become as dangerous as the virus itself, Toumi said.

He added that it has been particularly challenging for the genuine media to face the huge volume of fake news that has become dangerous hotbeds for the disinfodemic as their false emotional content was fueled and spread by influential actors.