Key media role

Apart from the heroic sacrifice being offered by our courageous medical and paramedical force, as well as our valiant security personnel, journalists and other media workers are also playing a crucial role in the fight against the novel coronavirus in the country. Even in these times of crisis, media workers have been performing their duties as they normally do. They have been bringing timely and critical information to the public from the frontlines. And in the line of this sacred duty, three journalists have contracted the virus in Punjab.

In what is more important in this era of fake news, several media outlets have been doing their best to bring accurate and verified information to the public. With a tsunami of misinformation with regard to symptoms and purported cures, media representatives are cautious enough to pass on only filtered information. The public has deemed such information invaluable as seen in the form of greater viewage statistics.

The importance of media to the government can also be seen in the fact that journalists and media workers have been deemed essential personnel and are amongst the small list of people who have been exempt from the lockdown and curfew-like restrictions imposed almost country-wide. It is, therefore, important that in this critical time, as the government secures much-needed personal protection equipment for doctors and security services and provides them with protection training, journalists should also be considered.

Moreover, the government must also allocate funds for the media in its stimulus package so that these organisations can continue paying their staff and provide the public with much-needed information. Besides, the three reporters who have contracted the coronavirus must be provided with all the necessary care so that they could make swift recovery. 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 2^nd, 2020.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.