The role of local media in getting information out to rural communities is immense, this week’s meeting of the Galway County Council Joint Policing Committee was told.
The meeting heard several examples of how local media has bypassed social media in communicating vital news and advise out to rural communities during the pandemic.
“Not everyone has social media,“ said Cllr Mary Hoade. “We are thankful to have local radio and local newspapers to get the information out to people, the vast majority of whom get their information from these traditional sources,” she added.
The matter had been raised by Cllr Gerry King who praised the gardaí for alerting the elderly about the various scams that have been perpetrated on the vulnerable in the lockdown time.
“We are thankful to the Gardai for highlighting this and we encourage them to use local newspapers and local radio to continue to get this message across,” he said.
