{"id":17392,"date":"2021-07-30T18:49:34","date_gmt":"2021-07-30T18:49:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/factcheckni.org\/?p=17392"},"modified":"2022-02-27T17:04:23","modified_gmt":"2022-02-27T17:04:23","slug":"some-suggestions-when-handling-covid-19-leaflets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/factcheckni.org\/topics\/health\/some-suggestions-when-handling-covid-19-leaflets\/","title":{"rendered":"Some suggestions when handling COVID-19 leaflets"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A number of leaflets about COVID-19 vaccines and their safety have been circulating in Northern Ireland. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

FactCheckNI has previously fact checked many of these claims<\/a>. What is notable is how these leaflets are designed to communicate a lot of information, and more often than not are attributed to a specific group that may not previously have been well known (or indeed, known at all).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If you see a leaflet, how might you approach its content?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The headline<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Headlines are constructed to get your attention but it\u2019s important to look beyond the headline to get the whole story. The authors may have a specific agenda. A headline can seem accurate yet turn out to be misleading, as vital information and context is missing. It\u2019s important to consider what\u2019s behind the headline and ask whether an over-simplified story is disguising a more complex issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Claims<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaflets tend to have multiple claims, which can overwhelm the reader. Bombarding readers with \u201cinformation\u201d is a way to engender confusion, making people doubt evidence that they may have previously believed to be accurate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Language<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is the language emotive and imprecise \u2014 just broad enough to potentially be true? The use of non-specific language can also make it more difficult to assess whether the claims being made are accurate or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagery <\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

FactCheckNI has spotted two approaches to imagery in the leaflets it has seen:<\/p>\n\n\n\n