Indonesian–Australian media during an infodemic: fostering trust and social resilience through translation as care

Abstract

The World Health Organisation (WHO) calls the proliferation of conflicting information during the COVID-19 pandemic an ‘infodemic’. To counter the infodemic experienced by diaspora communities, ethnic and multilingual media producers filled vital health communication gaps. This article focuses on the experiences of Indonesian–Australian media producers during this infodemic in Australia. Following semi-structured interviews with 10 Indonesian–Australian media producers, who recounted their experiences and practices supporting the information needs of Indonesian diaspora communities, we found that their translation of public health information extended beyond providing linguistically accessible and accurate information to the diasporic community. We propose the concept of ‘translation as care’. We suggest that translation practice can become an act of communal care during crises enabled by shared diaspora community identification and affective labour by Indonesian–Australian media producers. Translation as care addressed the gaps that Australian authorities could not adequately fill, fostering community trust and social resilience.