Bureau Bites is a regular “pod-bite” bringing you the latest news from Vietnam and the region.
Episode Background
The outbreak of COVID-19 worldwide has dominated the news for weeks now with stories of illness, death, economic hardship and isolation.
This means there hasn’t been many positive, uplifting, feel-good stories at the top of local and international news feeds.
However, recent stories like the reappearance of dolphins in Venice and the visibility of fish in its canals began to catch our attention.
There were also reports of a group of elephants that had apparently sauntered into a village in Yunnan, China, got drunk off corn wine and then passed out in a tea garden.
It appeared that animals were bouncing back, in the meantime raising our spirits during a time of despair.
But were these stories really true?
We spoke to Megan Ly from PR Newswire based in Ho Chi Minh City and asked her the following questions:
1. Why do so many untruths go viral?
2. What example comes to mind of an untruth on Vietnamese social media that went viral recently?
3. How can consumers of news and social media safeguard themselves better from being “scammed” by fake news?
4. Do you have a memorable uplifting “true” story that has come across your desk at PR Newswire since the news of the COVID-19 virus broke?
Produced by Matthew Cowan. Follow Matt on Instagram at @mattcowansaigon
Edited by Melanie Casul. Melanie is The Bureau’s Content Manager. Follow her on Instagram at @melaniecasul
Special thanks to Megan Ly. Connect with Megan on Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/meganly305/
For the latest updates from the Vietnamese Government:
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