Reporting During Pandemic How It Was Done ?

Facing the situation for the first time, right from the government body officers, hospital management, and media was new to handle the Covid-19 situation. The first patient in Maharashtra was detected Covid-19 positive on 9 March after almost one and half months later, the first patient in India, the situation’s seriousness slowly gripped India.

As a senior correspondent for a tabloid Pune Mirror, covering stories about the national situation and its impact on the city was routine. Even before the first case of Covid-19 was found in Pune, we did an elaborate story on how Pune institutes are preparing to face the situation.

Pune being the educational hub in the state, academic institutes are where more than thousands of people come together daily; the institutes had started panicking and planning their future.

Little did I know that Pune would get its first case of Covid-19 on the same day when my news story pressed the panic button among readers regarding changes in the education field; I thought the story would be too early to write.

Schools in Pune started considering online as a medium to teach their students if there is any Covid-19 case in Pune, and I reported the same on Degree in Visual Communication March 8 story.  Pune got its first confirmed case of Covid-19 on March 9, and there I was covering how schools in nearby vicinity announced its closure from the very next day.

With the first Covid patient found at Sinhgad Road vicinity in Pune city, all the reporters thronged the area and started covering how citizens went into panic mode. Right from Naidu hospital, which initially treated Covid patients, tracking each case and updates surrounding the same became standard for the first few days.

While covering pandemics, the most important thing to keep in mind is to avoid even a single chance to spread unauthentic news. Each piece of information needs to be checked, verified, and shared on any media platform.

Many journalists saw the situation of Covid-19 and lockdown from different angles. The state of laborers who wanted to reach their hometowns became a vital piece to cover.

Also, health journalists started tweeting their personal experiences and authentic information from the government officials even before any media covered the same, which became a reliable news source. The most crucial aspect while covering news during the pandemic was also giving exact data. Without circulating any false data, which might create a panic situation among people, it was essential to provide the precise figure and areas where patients were infected more.

While Degree in Journalism and Media Production in May 2020 also informed that print medium is a more reliable source of information to believe during the pandemic situation, television channels or websites also felt to increase panic among the citizens.

A Marathi news channel ABP Maza showed a story about a train leaving Uttar Pradesh from Bandra. It went viral on social media, and within an hour, laborers trying to leave Mumbai gathered at Bandra, resulting in chaos. A case was filed against the reporter and news channel for spreading the news, and the source of information was challenged if it was authentic.

On the other hand, senior journalist Barkha Dutt covered each day of laborers trying to reach their hometowns by road.

Reporting during pandemics also gave an altogether different experience for journalists, photojournalists, and video journalists. They need to take care of themselves, work on the field, cover the happenings, and return to their families. While media was one of the essential services, reporters were allowed to be on the field who covered various problems faced by society.

With the pandemic in Maharashtra entering the next phase of a spike, the media faces the next set of rumors. No one wants to have a complete lockdown all over again, therefore to avoid the same, the press is now considering making citizens aware of taking extra precautions. Old viral videos are now making rounds on the internet. Preventing a panic situation and chaos, but simultaneously handling the case responsibly are the challenges in front of the media.