Journalism in the Age of COVID-19

Opinions were sought across the board from all the segments that come together to make Pakistan’s media industry. Media house owners, editors, directors news, freelancers, media analysts, media development practitioners, watchdog bodies, media workers, press club officials, journalist associations, office bearers, reporters, bureau chiefs, stringers for foreign media, mainstream media, regional media and trade magazine representatives were approached.

All the quotes carried in the reports by the above mentioned media persons were especially given by them for this report, and they also pointed me to articles written by them or programmes aired by them on the topic to get additional insights.

Similarly, except for the image of the WHO spokesperson, Prime Minister Pakitan, Imran Khan, and Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah’s images which have been taken from publicly available websites, permissions were sought and received for all other images.

I am extremely grateful to all of them for taking time out of their very pressing engagements and responding, especially to those who were afflicted by the Covid-19 or were performing the role of primary care-givers to their family members who were suffering from it.

Acknowledgements are also due to Jochen Hippler, Country Director FES and Sidra Saeed, Programme Manager, for their patience as well as guidance in putting this report together through detailed feedback on the earlier drafts.