CREDIBILITY OF PUBLIC INFORMATION PRESENTED IN A PANDEMIC SITUATION

Abstract

The paper describes an analysis of the veracity of data obtained from various information sources. The
first part presents the ways of public awareness, their accessibility and their level of credibility. Printed publications
are considered - newspapers, magazines, specialized bulletins, public and private media - television channels,
broadcasts, radio stations, electronic media - Internet, social networks and institutions - schools, universities,
medical institutions and administrative facilities. The second part presents the different ways and techniques for data
manipulation, leading to distortion of information and impacts in a certain way on the thinking of the population.
Some of them involve outright making false claims, which can be easily proven and exposed, but a more serious
danger is the covert and invisible manipulation and substitution of data. An example of this is polls, videos or
interviews with "proven experts" in a certain field distributed on social media. By artificially increasing the approval
rating, these materials reach more people, and such information becomes available on an increasing scale. Another
danger is hidden by whole media groups owning television channels or newspapers, which purposefully hide or
present to the viewer or reader a tendentially distorted specific situation. For the most part, the real owners of the
media are not known and it is difficult for the common man to find information about them. There is also a danger
of invisible influence through the so-called "twenty-fifth frame". As one of the most credible channels for adequate
and uncompromised disclosure of data, official state and municipal bodies can be accepted. The information there
goes through coordination and verification by various specialists, and the authors of the studies, surveys and
experiments received for analysis are also known. In the event of intentional manipulation, persons are subject to
sanctions. It is precisely in this segment of information dissemination that the detection of counterfeiting is most
difficult and requires a significant resource, including time. In the third part of the paper, the ways of conducting a
poll (survey) among the population are presented. Available platforms for electronic results processing are reviewed.
The presentation of data in a way that is convenient for the perception of certain specialists in a given field may be
inappropriate for the general user or even for specialists in other fields of knowledge. The pandemic situation in
Bulgaria caused by the spread of Covid-19 was used as a starting point and environment for the proposed analysis
regarding the presentation of the credibility of the information.