Open Mic Nepal

The volunteer-driven Open Mic Nepal is a systematic information loop that tracks, investigates, and reports back to local communities on damaging rumours in the aftermath of crises. Volunteers from multiple organisations who are assisting earthquake victims to access aid and services collect and text in the rumours and concerns they hear from local populations as part of their daily routines. (A recent Open Mic bulletin was based on conversations with 450 people in a one-week period.) The Open Mic team then geolocates, analyses, and reports on the most pressing or common concerns. For example, there was a rumour out of Charikot, Dolakha, that the number of women aborting their pregnancies doubled after the earthquake. In fact, as reported in OpenMic Issue #5, the District Public Health Office said this was not the case, although what had risen was the number of pregnant women consulting health workers about their babies' health, which is a highly recommended practice. Related facts were distributed, along with a hotline number for those seeking more information and guidance. In addition to being published online, the bulletins are shared with the on-the-street volunteers themselves, to complete the feedback loop, as well as with the wider humanitarian system.

By keeping the rumors intact in the bulletins, the Open Mic project allows local media and humanitarians not only to debunk the rumours and address the factual misinformation, but also to investigate why certain rumors are so popular. Research shows that rumour mongering can serve a kind of collective problem solving. The analysis of persistent rumors can be very revealing, as many are not malevolent and do contain versions of truth. Tracking them provides information about information eco-systems, mistrust, and information gaps left open by government and humanitarians.

Risk Management.