A challenging time indeed for media

At least 53 journalists in Mumbai have tested positive for Covid-19 and the number is expected to rise as per reports emerging from the western metropolis citing municipal authorities.

These journalists include reporters, cameramen of news channels and photo journalists. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation had collected the samples of about 170 journalists and more reports are awaited.

Earlier, PTI had reported that a reporter working for a Tamil daily and a sub-editor with a Tamil news television channel have tested positive for coronavirus.

Journalists like caregivers, including doctors, paramedics and security personnel, have been at the forefront of the war against Corona. It has also been observed that while reporting from the field, many journalists were not following the prescribed norms of social distancing. Many of them were visiting crowded places such as wholesale markets (Mandis), hospitals and even isolation centres and migrant camps without taking basic precautionary steps such as using masks, wearing Personal Protection Equipment (in isolation wards) and gun mikes.

Media organisations such as News Broadcasters Association and News Broadcast Standards Authority too have been advising journalists from time to time to avoid visiting congested places and meeting vulnerable sections. International organisations such as Committee for the Protection of Journalists too have come out with guidelines to protect the journalists against Covid-19.

But at a time when some media houses are laying off many journalists, reducing salaries, cutting down on increments, bonus and other benefits despite repeated appeals from the Prime Minister downwards to all employers to protect the jobs and salaries of employees, journalists are risking even their lives to save their jobs. Many of them are the sole breadwinners of their families with children studying in schools and colleges, including some abroad. Many of them have taken huge loans for their homes and vehicles.

Yet, their commitment to the society at large and the desire to safeguard their livelihoods are often driving them to take risks to break stories and bring exclusive information to their respective platforms – print, electronic and digital.

While some of the leading media houses have taken pro-active steps to protect their staff by sanitizing work places and giving protective masks and providing other safeguards for majority of the small and medium enterprises working on shoe-string budgets, journalist safety is certainly not a top priority.

Another matter of concern and a genuine one for that is the impact of the Corona pandemic on media as an industry. The print is the worst hit with many deciding to go online. Despite campaigns to educate and inform through advertisements that print is safe and cannot become carriers of Covid-19 virus, there are not many takers. Majority of the localities do not encourage vendors to distribute newspaper copies. Publications such as Outlook have suspended their print editions for the time being and are catering to their loyalists through online medium. Newspapers are also trying to project themselves as the only credible platform for news and many media houses have come together to make a statement in this regard.

However, their concern remains that with the reader realizing that he/she can do without the hard copy, will they go back to print post the lockdown?

Electronic media, on the other hand, is on the upswing since the lockdown. With people confined to their houses and media being their sole window to the outside world, news channels are witnessing a sharp rise in viewership. BARC ratings show that on many days some news channels fared even better than the entertainment channels. With film shoots suspended, entertainment channels are constrained to recycle their old stuff and fresh content is as such available only with news channels which are constantly updating the viewers with all aspects of coronavirus. However, while the viewership is growing, advertisers of many products have started backing out as they too are seeing the red, not sure as to what the future holds for them. There are also demands from some political quarters for reduction of government advertisements to media platforms.

There is obviously cut-throat competition to grab eyeballs.

Digital media, too, is the big gainer with people having mobile phones as their constant companion.

But one of the major casualties here has been credibility, with fake content circulation witnessing an all-time high, particularly on social media.

Not that the so-called mainstream media is immune to the menace of social media but thanks to the presence of a strong institutionalized editorial process, they continue to remain comparatively credible.

While the media industry should not add to the worries of journalists by indulging in lay-offs at this critical juncture, the government on its part should extend insurance facilities and unemployment allowances to affected journalists.

These are challenging times for both journalism and journalists. At stake is not only the credibility and survival of media but also the safety and livelihood of journalists.

(K G Suresh is a senior journalist and former Director General, Indian Institute of Mass Communication.)

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not in any way represent the views of exchange4media.com