Reporting In Pandemic: Journalists demand ethics, wish to be deemed as frontliners

Strap: Risk takers, journalists….. (tomo)

Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, August 6

There is a journalist in the district who has attended 50 funerals of the Covid victims. Then, there are photojournalists getting shots of people undergoing swab tests inside the Covid test centres even during the lockdown. They are vulnerable all along. Recently, a 70-year-old photojournalist recently lost his life to the virus a few days ago. His nephew, also a photojournalist, tested positive. Meanwhile, after another media professional’s wife succumbed, he was hounded in the name of isolation protocol.

Frontliners. The word says enough for itself nowadays. But afterall, it is the actions what gives the word the essence. And Journalists here have ticked all the boxes requisite of being considered among the likes of healthcare workers, police personnel, sanitation staff etc. Amid all the lashing of praise, the one community which has constantly been on the ground bringing the Covid updates in the district to the populace from the very first day has been desperately feeling excluded.

Personnels test +ve, looked upon as culprits

The media personnels, like others, has suffered from the beginning. While it was in April that the first poitive cases surfaced, since then there has been a spate of cases among the group across various major publications. An organisation, which didn’t wish to be named, revealed that a considerable tally of positive personnels were recorded. Following which, the main office of the said organisation remained closed for three weeks.

Allegations that biometric attendance were being held even during the pandemic have been denied by the organisation claiming it was unduly targeted. On the flip side, many of the hospitals whose staff had tested positive continued operations without facing sealing or suspension of work.

Refusing to be named, the authorities of the vernacular media organisation while speaking with The Tribune, said, “We were stigmatised by the media itself and many put out articles ascribing things which didn’t happen at the organisation. We were the prime target and at one point of time the coverage made it look as if we were responsible for the spread in Jalandhar. We had stopped biometric attendance well in time and employees were marking attendance with magnetic cards.”

The contemporaries too weren’t spared. Following the lifting of curbs, police personnel, the DAC complex, health staff, ITBP and various other establishments and communities have taken turns emerging as the Covid hotspots.

Press-ing conferences?

Even during the thick of the lockdown, the tradition of press conferences and press meets never ceased in the district. The newspersons were exposed to the risk everytime covering such meets. The declaration of the lockdown was announced by then Jalandhar DC itself in a press meet, and was heavily attended by journalists. All political parties have also regularly been holding press meets. The threat looms large even as they indulge in coverage sporting masks, visiting high risk zones in face shields complimented with sanitisers.

Migrant crisis management

As the lockdown affected the day to day life of the populace giving way to a huge migrant crisis and their long, taxing walk back home across the country being documented all the while. Jalandhar was no different. The district also saw a huge migrant exodus with lakhs of factory and farm workers travelling back home to safety and food. And the journalists led from the front bringng to light their plights. Some even chased migrants on foot in the sweltering conditions and documented their overwhelming stories.

Information mechanism needs

The numbers, the tallies that one sees in the newspapers is not easily received. It is easier said than done. The district Health Department continues to share the daily round-up. However, neither the Health Department nor the public relations department ever reveal information about VIPs or prominent figures testing positive. This is usually leaked or received through sources. To add to work, consistent unresponsive numbers of some of key health officials proves another spring of consternation among for the journalists.

“In Jalandhar the information mechanism also demands more work from us. Since all the health and administrational PR facilities close at 5, journalists often have to scurry for information. The PR department isn’t responsibly disseminating late night updates and information. It is their responsibility to do their job as we do ours,” said Surinder Pal, president Print and Electronic Media Association Jalandhar, who himself tested positive and came out of isolation period on Thursday.

Box: Unheard voices

After a recent death, it was claimed that a delay of seven days in results stalled the treatment of a deceased media person. Another claims that after his wife’s death at a private hospital didn’t allow her sample to be tested from a different laboratory. While risking their lives to bring truth to the public, some of the journalists say they faced stigmatisation when they themselves tested positive.

Box: Kudos to Portals

Apart from newspapers and journals, a steady stream of online portals has kept the information flowing. The portals are often the first ones to anticipate the major breaks. Many of the employees who quit various publications opened their own portals – these news are lapped up by citizens and also act as a source of information before newspapers hit the stands. The online access of news through these plethora of online portals have also been the key source of information amid the lockdown when most of the people discontinued newspapers.

Speaking Out

Surinder Pal, president Print ad Electronic Media Association Jalandhar, who himself tested positive and came out after isolation period only on Thursday , said, “The media are as much the frontline warriors in the fight against Covid as others. But the government is not deeming them as such. We have to meet all officials and do stories so the risk factor is immensely high. I have personally met some officials who later tested positive. Despite being an accredited journalist, when I tested positive I did not receive a single message of acknowledgement from any official. The media is under too much pressure as there is a lot of work as well as online commitments. Since all the health and administrational PR facilities close at 5, journalists often have to scurry for information.”

Ravi Raunkhar, a journalist working for an online news website, said, “There are discrepancies in both the private and government establishments working for disseminating information regarding the virus. Sometimes the information is so ambiguous it seems to hide the truth. From sampling to garnering statistics of those tested positive, the entire process needs to have the eyes and ears of independent bodies on it. Journalists have to do that job. I have personally had a defamation case against me for highlighting alleged negligence at one of the private hospitals. Without journalists, the true picture regarding Coivd testing and treatment wouldn’t reach people.”