WHO YA GONNA CALL? COVID-19 MYTHBUSTERS!

The team behind the Austrian initiative #EUROPAgegenCOVID19 (#EuropeAgainstCOVID19) uses hard facts and a great sense of humour to debunk false theories, myths and lies relating to COVID-19. They produce numerous creative podcasts, as well as informative and funny videos, and organise competitions, online talk shows and other events on social media.

One of the initiative's proponents, Daniel Gerer, explains how their funny series have become a weekly fixture in the lives of an increasing number of people, helping them better withstand this challenging situation.

What prompted you to start your project or initiative?

Nana Walzer provided the impetus. In March 2020, there was a lot of uncertainty regarding COVID-19, and all kinds of fake news and EU myths were spreading rapidly. On 12 March, Ms Walzer and I began developing a video podcast series called #EUROPAgefühlsecht Corona Spezial, which was also broadcast on a daily basis by Austrian TV channel R9 Österreich. Ms Walzer's podcasts and livestreams were very successful, generated considerable interest and reached a large audience. We therefore developed a number of different formats with Austria's European federalist movement and Europe Direct and collaborated with various partners to reach more people.

How has your project been received? Have you obtained any feedback from the people you helped? (Can you give us an example, if you have any?)

We've received a lot of positive feedback on the various activities. For example, Ms Walzer has been praised for her discussions with experts as she has managed to explain complex measures and information in a way that everyone can understand. The free training courses for young people from JEF Austria (Austria's Young European Federalists movement) are very popular, as is Europe Direct's #EuropaCafe tour. The #EUmythbusters competition has motivated many young influencers. There has also been praise for the team behind "What the Fact", with Martin Moder, Christina Emilian and Florian Aigner, who clear up COVID-19 myths through videos: http://MEGA.video. Tommy Krappweis's #Ferngespräch live video talks (at http://twitch.tv/wildmics), for example, have become a weekly fixture in the lives of an increasing number of people, helping them better withstand this challenging situation. This is demonstrated by the comments, which can be very moving, appreciative and personal.

How will you use this specific funding to provide further help in the community? Are you already planning any new projects?

All the partners involved will continue working together and jointly debunking fake news, conspiracy theories and EU myths. Ms Walzer has continued her popular series of discussions. JEF Austria, together with the Europe Direct network and WH Media, will continue to offer free media and democracy courses for young people, and we will develop and publish more innovative and creative content to bring Europe closer to the people. All #EUmythbusters activities will also continue. 

What advice would you give to other organisations in terms of achieving results with such activities and programmes?

This is the European idea in action. Various NGOs, under the leadership of the European federalist movement and of Europe United, as well as other partners, such as WH Media, R9 Regional TV, WH Digital, Ms Walzer, Wildmics, Mr Krappweis, What the Fact and so on, have joined forces across borders to jointly combat EU myths and fake news and spread the idea of European solidarity. The key to success is cooperation, teamwork and commitment from a large number of people. So I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone involved!