REGENT PARK – Virtual Town Hall – Thursday May 28, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally altered our world, everything from how we socialise, to how we shop, and to what and how we negotiated our most basic movements - everything is now sifted through the mesh of the pandemic protocols. We are, to put it bluntly, inundated by news both local and global of the pandemic, and keeping up with the latest developments has become a daily ritual. At times this cycle is as overwhelming as it is novel, unfolding before our senses in unprecedented horror, a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle.

As speakers at the Regent Park – Virtual Town Hall (a live streamed event) confirmed, there are many things that each person can do to protect themselves as well as others around them, staying home, self-isolating, social distancing, and washing your hands often have become the unlikely, but necessary mantras of the pandemic. However, social distancing and avoidance of public gatherings have also ushered in new modes of communication. Virtual encounters and the world of remote communication, a kind of fringeactivity before the onset of the pandemic have now gained new credence – as life and all its attendant endeavours must go on – communities have adapted and embraced technologies that were once unfamiliar and beyond their capacity to engage with. At RPTV News, playing a role in providing critical information to the Regent Community is in essence what community media is all about. As COVID-19’s disruptions continue, the need for accurate and up-to-date information also continues, and perhaps becomes even more prescient.

At a certain existential level, the reportage of the pandemic is of profound importance to everyone, being out of step with the status quo can not only be dangerous but being uniformed socially can it bring ridicule. Unsettling as the news may be at times, it is strangely a balm as well, offering a daily touch point upon which to base your “risk factors” against the correct “safety protocols” you are following – the news serves as a barometer of how well you are surviving.

Human beings are complex creatures, fitting in as well as standing out, are irrevocably intertwined in our nature (wearing a mask or not wearing a mask become matters of personal belief and identity), finding that balance of being part of particular group while maintaining a unique identity is often shaped by information we receive from our family, community, and cultural traditions. Keeping well informed becomes a social responsibility, and providing sound information becomes a communal and civic duty.
 
by Dimitrije Martinovic
Dimitrije is a staff member at FOCUS MEDIA ARTS CENTRE.