Interview with a Swedish journalist who infiltrated the antivaxx movement

Ever since a speaker at Dataharvest mentioned the SVT team’s investigation into the anti-vaccination movement, I wanted to interview someone from this team and ask what it was like. The Swedish team started their investigation at a similar time as Eva and I started ours, but instead of spreading wide in Europe they traced influences all the way to US …

The big vaccine gamble

EU countries agreed to pre-book several vaccines together. But the (now former) prime minister of Slovakia decided to act when the Western vaccines wouldn’t come fast enough. This cost him his post. Learn what happened on the latest episode of our podcast, produced with help from award-winning Slovak journalist Lukáš Onderčanin. Lukáš and I met on a press trip to …

Vaccine ‘space race’

The media reported today that French-speaking ‘influencers’ on social networks have been approached by a dubious PR agency to promote negative messages about the Comirnaty (Pfizer) vaccine (I saw it on Twitter and then it was reported here). In this episode, Eva and I talk to experts who have been collecting data about how false claims about vaccines link to …

Misinformation and disinformation: what’s in it for spreaders?

Since my colleague Eva and I started our project on anti-vaccination movements, reading about the topic has often led us to academic and media articles on misinformation or disinformation. The distinction between the two is not always clear, but it is based on intent. Disinformation is defined as intentional efforts to mislead people in order to sow distrust and chaos. …

Vaccine conversation tips from international reporters

Laura Oliver talked to numerous international reporters to glean suggestions for reporting on vaccines. But our podcast episode is not just for reporters – as we discuss visuals, fact-checks and tone when engaging in a politically charged conversations about vaccines, I think everyone who is having these conversations with their family and friends will find useful tips. Listen and subscribe!

New podcast: The Inoculation

Together with my colleague Eva von Schaper, with the kind support of Journalismfund.eu, we are launching a podcast on the politics and values surrounding public health. Expect discussions on COVID-19, vaccination, masks, political debates on public health measures, data, and more. Please follow us wherever you listen to podcasts!