John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships Grant Funds Project
“We’re not just fighting an epidemic; we’re fighting an infodemic.
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MAY 4, 2020, SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Today, CatchLight, The Everyday Projects, and Dysturb, a group of internationally influential visual media organizations, announce the launch of Artists Against an #Infodemic, a collaborative visual journalism initiative to fight misinformation about COVID-19, and an open call for artists to participate.
With initial funding from Stanford University’s John S. Knight (JSK) Journalism Fellowships, and led by JSK alumni from CatchLight, The Everyday Projects, Dysturb, experts Pamela Chen, a 2020 JSK fellow, and Jenell Stewart, an Infectious Diseases specialist, with partners spanning six continents, the collaboration will utilize the power of visuals to challenge misinformation and disinformation, and improve public communication and news delivery surrounding COVID-19, in places where information challenges are most prominent.
Beginning with, but not limited to, underserved communities in Seattle, the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, Paris, and Nairobi, and looking to scale to other locations in the future, the collaborating organizations will leverage the power of visual journalism to reach and inform these underserved communities where infection rates are significant.
With an open call for visual art and storytelling submissions that addresses key public health messages in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the project partners will disseminate visual content, through memetic strategies for social media channels and public art activations, including paste ups, projections, posters and flyers. The project partners are encouraging artists from these regions to apply but are not limiting the call for artists geographically. All content will be considered and distributed in response to the information needs of specific communities, as well as shared in the local language and vernacular.
“Through our collaborative efforts, using online viral tactics and offline public displays, we’re uniquely positioned to activate this initiative effectively on a global scale,” notes Elodie Mailliet Storm, Executive Director, CatchLight. “The Everyday Projects will work its network of visual storytellers to identify regionally appropriate visual content, share best practices to respond to COVID-19, and build an important visual archive. CatchLight’s Fellows network and social change focused programming will lead programmatic rollout, while Dysturb’s expertise in community activations, linked to online resources and blending images with factual information and resources, will heighten community engagement opportunities. Pamela Chen’s expertise in the strategies of online creators and social media will help distribute the messages effectively, and Jenell Stewart, Infectious Disease specialist, has already published an initial tip sheet to help photographers keep safe while working in the field, which is regularly updated with new information on The Everyday Projects’ site.”
This week, Dysturb is working to deploy large-scale murals of news imagery in low income areas of Brooklyn and Queens New York, where residents have less access to online health information and where there are also some of the greatest concentrations of COVID-19 positive populations in the United States. Further deployments will begin in the United States in the coming days and weeks in San Francisco and Seattle.
“As COVID-19 continues to move across the globe, different cities and countries will see the peak in case numbers at different times and may even have multiple peaks depending on policy and human behavior,” states Jenell Stewart. “Additionally, public health messaging is likely to evolve and remain pertinent even in cities where the peak has already happened. Current public health recommendations for shelter-in-place in many places may not persist for longer than a month or two, but we will not be able to safely gather in large crowds (concerts, museums, etc) until a large percentage of the population has developed immunity and vaccines are available.”
Based on need and further funding, the project will continue on a rolling basis as the world copes with changing public health recommendations for the foreseeable future. Open call for submission is available here.
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Project Partners
CatchLight believes in the power of visual storytelling to foster a more nuanced and empathetic understanding of the world. We serve as a transformational force, urgently bringing resources and organizations together to support leaders in a thriving visual ecosystem. Our goal is to discover, develop and amplify visual storytellers.
Dysturb is an international urban media dedicated to information and education. Its mission is to (re)connect global citizens with the news, and inspire action for a more just and sustainable model of society. Rooted in urban culture, Dysturb develops communication and engagement strategies to create meaningful and inspiring experiences, and to bring crucial subjects directly in front of people’s eyes.
The Everyday Projects uses photography to challenge stereotypes that distort our understanding of the world. Our ever-growing global community of photographers strives to make images that convey a more accurate view of daily life than what is commonly seen in the media. We are creating new generations of storytellers and audiences that recognize the need for multiple perspectives in portraying the cultures that define us.
Pamela Chen is a creative director who began her career as a photojournalist with a concentration in mathematics, a path which continues to shape her work exploring the intersection of photography, culture and technology. Over the past 15 years, she has been a visual leader at Instagram, National Geographic, and George Soros’ Open Society Foundations. Pamela is currently inaugural Human-Centered AI and JSK Journalism Fellow at Stanford University working with viral content creators to ultimately help design better algorithmic recommendation systems.
Jenell Stewart, DO, MPH is an Infectious Diseases physician-scientist at the University of Washington,where her research has focused on STI and HIV prevention in Kisumu, Kenya as well as among women selling sex in Seattle, USA. She provides clinical care for patients at Harborview Medical Center, a University of Washington affiliated hospital in Seattle.