Scribd
Upload
13 views1 page

The Role of Journalism in India's Covid Crisis

Journalists play an important role in providing citizens with accurate information during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, some media focuses too much on politics instead of reporting on the health crisis. At a time when India is struggling with rising cases and deaths, the media has a crucial responsibility to ensure transparency and hold leaders accountable, but some spread misinformation instead of objective reporting. Supporting reader-funded local journalists who report factually on the pandemic is important for informing the public and challenging false narratives.

Uploaded by

Shruti Pedamkar
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
13 views1 page

The Role of Journalism in India's Covid Crisis

Journalists play an important role in providing citizens with accurate information during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, some media focuses too much on politics instead of reporting on the health crisis. At a time when India is struggling with rising cases and deaths, the media has a crucial responsibility to ensure transparency and hold leaders accountable, but some spread misinformation instead of objective reporting. Supporting reader-funded local journalists who report factually on the pandemic is important for informing the public and challenging false narratives.

Uploaded by

Shruti Pedamkar
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

In a democracy, journalists play a vital role in uncovering the truth and holding

those in power to account. Their job is to ensure that citizens receive timely,
accurate and reliable information, which has become even more important in the
context of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Some media houses continuously ran reports on the elections even when
the cry of the hour demands ground reporting of the health crisis.

At a time when India is grappling with a health emergency where the media
has a crucial role to play in ensuring the checks and balances are in place,
throwing the spotlight on the political economy of the media becomes
paramount.

India continues to break the record for daily Covid infections and deaths
and as the virus spreads from cities to villages, the challenge of reporting
the Covid crisis has also increased. At a time when information is an
important currency to deal with the Covid pandemic, biased media fuels
misinformation and disinformation. Public awareness and engagement is
essential to challenge the false narrative and demand accountability from
not just the state but also the media. One way is to support the reader-
funded media and the many local journalists who are on the ground
painstakingly reporting on the unfolding tragedies and holding truth to
power. In a country that is gasping for breath, media plurality is a much-
needed oxygen.

In the midst of a public health crisis, the public seeks information to help make sense of the world
around them. The news media in particular are considered a primary source for that information and
context. The needs that journalism satisfies in a crisis are at odds.

You might also like