Lessons Learned

Guidance and how-to about USAID communications.

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Government Communications Structures: Centralized, De-centralized, Hybrid

Federal or central governments worldwide struggle with communications structure, particularly after leadership transitions. However, at some point, each government identifies a way to handle communication priorities, messages, and outreach more systematically.

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Pre-bunking or Inoculation Theory on Misinformation

Journalist or citizen-based fact-checking organizations are worthwhile but are committed in terms of resources, time, and effort. “Misinformation just lingers. And in terms of scale, a fact check will hardly ever reach as large an audience as the original misinformation,” said Dr. Sander van der Linden, a University of Cambridge professor and a leading expert in inoculation.

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Defining Fake News

It is helpful to use academia or the UNHCR as sources for disinformation definitions since they are seen as authoritative sources, and this is easier than defining it during a discussion.

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Truth Sandwich Responses for Disinformation

George Lakoff is a linguist who often focuses on framing and countering disinformation and has written several books on the topic.  He is also considered the author of the truth sandwich, a method to respond to disinformation.

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Package Reports Online for Readers that Bite, Snack, and Eat the Meal

A bite, a snack, and a meal is a concept used for website content that considers each type of reader.  The metaphor applies to packaging for different kinds of readers—the biters, the snackers, and the meal eaters.  This is helpful when creating a web page on a report, speech, or longer document.  This is a simple concept, and it is everywhere on the web.

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