特别增刊 | 疫情信息传播，如何避免恐慌？（朗读版）

▍英文原文

Framing risk, reducing panic

Timely, honest communication from a source an audience deems credible is essential to containing fear during an epidemic, but governments have the tough job of explaining risk and telling people how to act without also seeding alarm, says psychologist Baruch Fischhoff, PhD.

"The discipline is very straightforward: Identify the few things that people most need to know and figure out how to explain them in clear, trustworthy terms," Fischhoff says.

Messages may be more helpful when delivered in creative formats, too, psychologist Reynolds adds. "Infographics and visuals are very powerful. We can't just tell people things, we have to show them. When people are using the more primitive part of their brain, visuals are more powerful than our higher order tools, including language."

It's also important that the content and tone of communications speak to the intended audience.

"Scientists and public health officials may assume that other people will be convinced by the same evidence that convinces them, when it in fact needs to be explained differently to a lay audience," Fischhoff says. "People can understand just about anything if you do your job right as a communicator."