Mapping the Covid-19 Infodemic: Prevalence, Beliefs and Misconceptions among Anyole Radio Listeners

The Covid-19 pandemic unfolded alongside an extensive infodemic, marked by rapid dissemination of inaccurate, unverified and misleading information that undermined public health communication. This study maps the prevalence, belief structures and dominant misconceptions surrounding Covid-19 among listeners of Anyole Radio, a community broadcaster in Vihiga County, Western Kenya. Using a descriptive research design, 384 respondents were sampled through criterion based, quota and purposive techniques targeting active radio listeners, community radio journalists and local health practitioners. Data was collected through structured questionnaires and semi structured interviews to identify misinformation encountered and assess the extent to which audiences endorsed or rejected these claims. The study further examined Anyole Radio’s role in disseminating misinformation and providing accurate and factual information to its audience.
Findings indicate that misinformation was widespread with respondents encountering multiple false claims regarding Covid-19 causes, prevention and treatment. Herbal remedies such as ginger and garlic (55.7%) and the belief that alcohol cures Covid-19 (31.3%) were the most frequently cited misconceptions, while claims that the pandemic was fabricated for donor funding (45.6%) and that vaccines cause impotence (21.4%) further shaped perceptions. Belief in these narratives remained substantial, with over half of those exposed accepting the herbal and alcohol cure claims as true.
Social media emerged as the primary source of misinformation (67.12%), followed by the broader internet (46.88%) and word of mouth (36.98%). Radio sources accounted for only 10.42% of misinformation reports, with Anyole Radio implicated by just 0.03125% of respondents. Conversely, 96.875% reported receiving factual Covid-19 information from Anyole Radio particularly on mask use, social distancing and hand hygiene, reflecting high audience trust.
These findings highlight the interplay between misinformation exposure, belief formation and trusted community media providing an empirical basis for strengthening localized strategies to counter health misinformation during public health crises.

Infodemic, Misinformation Exposure

1. Agrawal, B. C. (2006). Communication technology for rural development. Indian Journal of Communication Technology, 22(2). [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Ambekar, J. B. (2004). Promoting cultural expression and participatory development. Paper presented at national seminar on, “Freedom of expression in India,” Organised by, Kuvempu University, Karnataka. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Bernal, P. (2018). The Internet, Warts and All. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108381161 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Burkhardt, J M. (2017). History of Fake News. Library Technology Reports 53: 5–9. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Bushak, L. (2024, July 11). FDA details how pharma companies can counter health misinformation. MM+M - Medical Marketing and Media. https://www.mmm-online.com/home/channel/fda-oncountering-misinfomation-pharma/ [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Canavilhas, J., & Ferrari, P. (2018). Fact-checking: o jornalismo regressa às origens. Jornalismo em tempo de transformação: desafios de produção e de ação, 30-49. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Carletto, E., Carson, K. A., Yeh, H.-C., Dietz, K., Showell, N., Marsteller, J. A., & [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Cooper, L. A. (2024). A Pandemic of Misinformation: Understanding Influences on Beliefs in Health and Conspiracy Myths. Journal of General Internal Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-024-08867-8 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Carson, T. L. (2010). Lying and deception: Theory and practice. OUP Oxford. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. Chang, C. (2012) News coverage of health-related issues and its impacts on perceptions: Taiwan as an example. Health Communication, 27, 111–123. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Chisholm, R. M., & Feehan, T. D. (1977). The intent to deceive. The journal of Philosophy, 74(3), 143159. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. Coleman J, F (2020) UK Community Radio production responses to Covid-19. Brunel University London [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Darnton, R. (2017). The true history of fake news. The New York review of books. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Dice, M. (2017). The true story of fake news: How mainstream media manipulates millions. Mark Dice. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. Dotzert M (2020) A Timeline of Pandemics. Today’s Clinical Lab. Accessed at https://www.clinicallab.com/a-timeline-of-pandemics-22047 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. Ephraim, P. E. (2020). The potentials of radio in combating misinformation about COVID-19 in Nigeria. In Fake news is bad news: Hoaxes, half-truths and the nature of today’s journalism. Intech Open.https://www.intechopen.com/online-first/the-potentials-of-radio-in-combating-misinformation-aboutcovid-19 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. Fidler, D. P. (2004). Brief history of the global SARS outbreak of 2002–03. In SARS, Governance and the Globalization of disease (pp. 71-105). Palgrave Macmillan, London. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

18. Guess, A. M., & Lyons, B. A. (2020). Misinformation, disinformation, and online propaganda. Social media and democracy: The state of the field, prospects for reform, 10. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

19. Gumo, S. (2017). Praying for Rain: Indigenous Systems of Rainmaking in Kenya [Review of Praying for Rain: Indigenous Systems of Rainmaking in Kenya]. 386–397. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/erev.12301 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

20. Ireton, C., & Posetti, J. (2018). Journalism, fake news & disinformation: handbook for journalism education and training. Unesco Publishing. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

21. Johns, A. (1998). The nature of the book: Print and knowledge in the making. University of Chicago Press. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

22. Kouzy, R., Abi Jaoude, J., Kraitem, A., El Alam, M. B., Karam, B., Adib, E., Zarka, J., Traboulsi, C., Akl, E., & Baddour, K. (2020). Coronavirus Goes Viral: Quantifying the COVID-19 Misinformation Epidemic on Twitter. Cureus, 12(3). https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.7255 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

23. Laskar, A, K &Bhattacharyya B (2020) Community radio stations’ production responses to COVID-19 pandemic in India [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

24. Lee, T., & Hosam, C. (2020). Fake News Is Real: The Significance and Sources of Disbelief in Mainstream Media in Trump’s America. Sociological Forum, 35(1). https://doi.org/10.1111/socf.12603 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

25. Luckerson, V. (2014, October 7). Watch How Word of Ebola Exploded in America. Retrieved November 18, 2025, from TIME website: https://time.com/3478452/ebola-twitter/ [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

26. Manje, I. W. (2019). Community radio and the development agenda of slum areas in Kenya: The case of Pamoja FM in Nairobi, Kenya (Doctoral dissertation, KIBU). [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

27. Meneses, J. “Sobre a Necessidade de Conceptualizar O Fenómeno Das Fake News.” Observatorio (OBS*), 2018, https://doi.org/10.15847/obsobs12520181376. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

28. Mheidly N and Fares J (2020). Leveraging media and health communication strategies to overcome the COVID-19 infodemic. Journal of Public Health policy, 410-420 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

29. Muigai, J, W, W. "Understanding fake news." Washington Post (2017). [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

30. Mutoro, D. (2021). Media Framing and Public Perception of Infectious Disease Outbreaks: a Case of Hiv/aids and Covid-19 Pandemics in Kenya (Doctoral dissertation, University of Nairobi). [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

31. Mutua, S. N., & Oloo, D. (2020). Online news media framing of COVID-19 pandemic: Probing the initial phases of the disease outbreak in international media. European Journal of Interactive Multimedia and Education, 1(2), e02006. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

32. O'Brien A and Gaynor N (2011) Community radio in Ireland: "Defeudalising" the Public Sphere [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

33. Ochunge, N. (2021, August 4). Inside the Vihiga rainmakers shrines.The tandard.https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/western/article/2001420063/inside-the-vihiga-rainmakers-shrines [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

34. Omari, E. (2011, June 22). Secret rites that bring the rains. Nation. https://nation.africa/kenya/counties/vihiga/secret-rites-that-bring-the-rains--773144 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

35. Ondieki, E. (2020, May 13). Safaricom: 20,000 call Covid-19 helpline daily [Review of Safaricom: 20,000 call Covid-19 helpline daily]. Nation; Nation. https://nation.africa/kenya/news/safaricom-20-000-callcovid-19-helpline-daily-286534 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

36. Pavarala, V. (2024). Community Radio in the Times of COVID-19: Experiences from the Global South. In Communicating COVID-19: Media, Trust, and Public Engagement (pp. 29-44). Cham: Springer International Publishing. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

37. Pergolizzi, J. V., Lequang, J. A., Taylor, R., Wollmuth, C., Nalamachu, M., Varrassi, G., Christo, P., Breve, [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

38. F., & Magnusson, P. (2021). Four pandemics: Lessons learned, lessons lost. Signa Vitae, 17(1), 1- [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

39. 5. https://doi.org/10.22514/sv.2020.16.0096 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

40. Posetti, J & Matthews A (2018). A Short Guide to the History of’fake News’ and Disinformation. International Center for Journalists 7. Retrieved from: https://www.icfj.org/sites/default/files/2018-07/A% [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

41. Rasinski, K., Berktold, J., Smith, T., & Albertson, B. L. (2002). America Recovers: A follow up to a National Study of Public Response to the September Terrorist Attacks. NORC. Retrieved on 8/11/ 2025 from http://norc.uchicago.edu/projects/reaction [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

42. Roozenbeek, J., Schneider, C. R., Dryhurst, S., Kerr, J., Freeman, A. L. J., Recchia, G., van der Bles, A. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

43. M., & van der Linden, S. (2020). Susceptibility to misinformation about COVID-19 around the world. Royal Society Open Science, 7(10), 201199. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.201199 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

44. Sampath, S., Khedr, A., Qamar, S., Tekin, A., Singh, R., Green, R., & Kashyap, R. (2021). Pandemics Throughout the History. Cureus, 13(9), e18136. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.18136 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

45. Sell, T. K., Hosangadi, D., & Trotochaud, M. (2020). Misinformation and the US Ebola communication crisis: analyzing the veracity and content of social media messages related to a fear-inducing infectious disease outbreak. BMC Public Health, 20(1), 1-10. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

46. Sen, A. (2020). Community radio in times of disaster: Contemplations for South Asia. In K. K. Malik & V. Pavarala (Eds.), Community radio in South Asia: Reclaiming the airwaves (pp. 165–183). Routledge. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

47. Tabing, L., & UNESCO (2002). How to do community radio: A primer for community radio operators. New Delhi: UNESCO. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

48. Tsai, J.-Y., Phua, J., Pan, S., & Yang, C. (2020). Intergroup contact, COVID-19 news consumption, and the moderating role of digital media trust on prejudice toward Asians in the United States: Cross-sectional study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(9), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.2196 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

49. Tsfati, Y., Boomgaarden, H. G., Strömbäck, J., Vliegenthart, R., Damstra, A., & Lindgren, E. (2020). Causes and consequences of mainstream media dissemination of fake news: literature review and synthesis. Annals of the International Communication Association, 44(2), 157–173. https://doi.org/10.1080/23808985.2020.1759443 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

50. Tucker, J., Guess, A., Barberá, P. et al. (2018). Social Media, Political Polarization and Political Disinformation: A Review of the Scientific Literature. Hewlett Foundation Report, March. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

51. https://hewlett.org/wpcontent/uploads/2018/03/Social-Media-Political-Polarization-and-PoliticalDisinformation-Literature-Review.pdf [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

52. UNESCO. (2012). EFA Global Monitoring Report, 2012, p.248. UNESCO. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

53. Van Zyl, J. A. F. (2025). A Sense of Belonging. Retrieved November 18, 2025, from Google Books website:https://books.google.co.ke/books/about/A_Sense_of_Belonging.html?id=A2MA0QEACAAJ&r edir_esc=y [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

54. West, J. D., & Bergstrom, C. T. (2021). Misinformation in and about science. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(15), e1912444117. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1912444117 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

55. Zhong R, Mozur P, Kao J & Krolik A (2021). No ‘Negative’ News: How China Censored the Coronavirus. The New York Times. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• Communication Strategies among Promoters During MATTA Fair 2025
• An Examination of Colleen Ballinger’s Experience in Social Media: Cancel Culture Chronicle
• Communication Patterns in Conflict Interactions in Premarital Couples Who Are in Abusive Relationships
• Social Media Use on Mental Health Outcomes among Adolescents and Young Adults in Port Harcourt City
• (Un)Successful Error Repairs in L2 Communication