Covering COVID-19: Resources for Journalists

Colombian Journalist Karoll Pineda Discusses Reporting During COVID-19

Colombian journalist Karoll Pineda kickstarted his career in the news industry while a university student. He worked for the radio station at the University of Cartagena, where he earned a degree in social communication.

The Global Impact of Our COVID-19 Work

Every day, the journalists in our network are delivering high-quality coverage about the COVID-19 pandemic to their communities. They are fighting back against harmful misinformation with fact-based reporting that helps people lead healthier, better lives.

Key Quotes: Lessons Learned Reporting on the Pandemic in Brazil

In Brazil, where disinformation and harassment of reporters are part of the media landscape, the dogged investigative reporter Patricia Campos Mello is better prepared than most journalists to uncover the truth. She has reported from war zones, covered the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone and persisted in reporting on Brazil despite threats from supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro.

Key Quotes: Reinventing the Journalism Business Model

Business models for news, already under threat before the pandemic, have been devastated during the global health crisis. How do we invent new ones so that citizens and communities get the news they need to make informed decisions?

How to Manage Stress and Digital Overload as a Journalist

Technology is an essential part of a journalist’s job, but it can also be a major stressor, especially as reporters juggle the added pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Six Months into the Global COVID-19 Crisis, What Do We Know About the Virus?

During the pandemic, research has pointed to the likelihood that aerosols—made up of tiny droplets of water even smaller than those from a cough—may carry SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Because aerosols can linger in the air in enclosed spaces, this research has important implications for prevention. But until July 7, the World Health Organization had declined to acknowledge that aerosol-borne particles could transmit the virus.

Beyond Fact-Checking: Fighting the Onslaught of COVID-19 Disinformation

To fight the COVID-19 “disinfodemic,” journalists must move beyond simply debunking the false information spread online, three experts said during a webinar this week. 

Key Quotes: COVID-19 and Reporting on Communities of Color

The pandemic has disproportionately affected minority communities and communities of color around the world, panelists said in an ICFJ Global Health Crisis Reporting Forum webinar on Monday.

Key Quotes: Health Crisis at Home — Reporting on Gender-Based Violence

Gender-based violence and abuse is the leading public health issue around the world, with research estimating that one out of every four women will experience harassment or abuse. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, and lockdowns and quarantines around the world, advocates worry that gender-based violence is on the rise — even if the number of reported incidents remains low. 

Audience Engagement in a Time of Social Distancing 

Audience engagement and service journalism—well-researched, advice on practical matters — are taking on new importance and driving change in newsrooms during the global COVID-19 pandemic, three engagement editors said during a webinar this week hosted by ICFJ and the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University. 

Key Quotes: Photojournalism in the COVID-19 Era

Covering COVID-19 is often an exercise in explaining statistics: How many people are sick? Unemployed? What is this week’s death rate? But photographers are showing us the human face — and cost — of the pandemic. 

Journalism & the Pandemic: Threats to Media Freedom & Safety During COVID-19

As COVID-19 spreads in waves around the world, “a vast array of threats” to journalists and press freedom are also proliferating, said Courtney Radsch, advocacy director for the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Three Ways Large Media Companies are Innovating During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The global COVID-19 pandemic is putting the journalism profession's ideas about digital news innovation to the test, said New York Times National Editor Mark Lacey.

News and Mental Health: What Journalists Should Know

The physical toll of the COVID-19 pandemic is widely known, but what is the toll on mental health -- and how can journalists better cover it?

Key Quotes: Lessons Learned from Reporting on the Pandemic in New York

From a coronavirus hot spot to police brutality and street protests in Minneapolis, CNN national correspondent Miguel Marquez has covered the major stories upending American life during the first half of 2020.

Key Quotes: COVID-19’s Effects On Freelancing — and its Future

Freelancers are at the core of journalism as we know it. But as the COVID-19 pandemic leads to budget cuts at almost every level, freelancers are struggling to find work. Without the support of an organization behind them, many freelancers have become responsible for their own safety and wellbeing, at a time when both are being threatened.

Ethical Considerations for Reporting on COVID-19

Since the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) a pandemic, more and more journalists around the world have been pulled in to report on the frontlines of the global crisis. 

How Can Journalism Create a Path to Recovery from COVID-19?

Collaborating with communities and rethinking business models are among the key steps journalists and newsrooms should take as they struggle to persist in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, three top editors said.

Holding Beijing to Account for COVID-19 Will Not Get Easier, Hong Kong Reporter Says

Reporting from China has long been a challenge, but with the country at the epicenter of a global pandemic, information control and censorship appear to be on the rise, said South China Morning Post reporter Linda Lew.

Key Quotes: How to Ask the Hard Questions When Covering COVID-19

“Every interview—whether it’s with a victim of COVID-19 or the president of your country—is a fight for control,” said Julian Sher, a veteran TV documentary writer and director, during an ICFJ webinar Tuesday.

If the U.S. Isn’t Prepared for Safely Reopening for Business, What Does it Say About the Global South? 

As many communities move from urging people to stay at home to opening for business, the U.S., one of the world’s wealthiest countries, is not prepared to meet the challenge, an economist and an epidemiologist said during an ICFJ webinar Thursday. “When the United States is handling this relatively poorly, you look at other countries that are less affluent than we are, and definitely have concern for them,” said Tara Smith, an epidemiology professor at Kent State University.

ICFJ Knight Fellows Play a Leading Role in Promoting Top-Notch Coverage of COVID-19

With COVID-19 dominating the news and crippling communities across the world, we at ICFJ are doing everything we can to help journalists provide information that can mean the difference between life and death. I want to highlight how our ICFJ Knight Fellows are leading the way. They are providing resources from webinars with regional experts to journalism safety tips to business strategies to bolster the bottom line. 

Key Quotes: Media Sustainability During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Before the arrival of COVID-19, the state of the news industry was already precarious: revenues were down and news organizations were folding. Across the world, news deserts have become more commonplace.

Leading and Supporting a Team During Times of Crisis

Being a team leader is a challenge in any context, and the difficulties of managing a team are exacerbated in times of global crisis and isolation, like during the current COVID-19 pandemic. On top of needing to navigate new limitations, leaders also have to take precautions, like working remotely.  

Sweden’s Top Epidemiologist Challenges Conventional Wisdom on COVID-19

Sweden’s chief epidemiologist challenged a wide array of public health practices — from wearing masks in public to keeping young children home from school — that countries are using in the fight against COVID-19, in an interview with the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) Friday.

Key Quotes: How I Survived COVID-19

Journalists are on the front lines of the pandemic, sometimes risking their health to provide up-to-date information to the public. When reporters themselves contract the novel coronavirus, it takes a toll, physically and emotionally, three reporters who have lived through it said Wednesday in an ICFJ webinar. 

#CoveringCOVID: At a Critical Time for News, Reporters Persist Despite Growing Risks to Press Freedom

At a time when citizens need fact-based, trustworthy information to survive the global pandemic, reporters face mounting threats as they report on the crisis, three distinguished journalists said during a panel discussion Monday. 

Impact-Driven Journalism Brings Critical COVID-19 News to Rural India

The people of Hardauli village in Madhya Pradesh, India, were frightened. On March 30, one week after the Indian government announced a three-week nationwide lockdown, six families returned from the city of Pune, a COVID-19 hotspot. Some migrants were coughing, and despite government orders that returning migrants exhibiting symptoms should be tested, the returnees refused to go to health authorities. 

Reporting the COVID-19 Pandemic's Ever-Changing Facts

We are living in a reality seemingly pulled from a dystopian science fiction novel. Now, people are scared and looking for answers. With much still unknown about COVID-19, these answers often aren’t readily available. Meanwhile, data and expert advisories change frequently. 

I spoke to journalists from Vox, Mother Jones and The New York Times about how they report the ever-changing facts of the pandemic.

How to Cover the Economic Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic for a Local Audience

In Rick Dunham’s 35 years as a reporter, including 15 years at Business Week, no previous economic story has compared to the current global economic crisis. Fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic is the “biggest economic story of our careers,” he said in a webinar Friday.

Gates Foundation Expert Optimistic about COVID-19 Vaccine Development

Dr. Lynda Stuart, a leading vaccine expert at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said she is optimistic that a COVID-19 vaccine could be available as soon as 14 months from now. At that time, the vaccine would likely go to healthcare workers, the elderly and people who are considered most vulnerable.

Key Quotes from #PROTOCall: How Muddled Science Drives Misinformation

Finding dependable primary sources of information can help journalists better report on complicated and technical subjects such as COVID-19, said science communicator Shruti Muralidhar at a PROTOCall webinar last Thursday. 

Key Quotes: Journalists’ Safety on the Frontline of #COVID19

Newsroom managers overseeing COVID-19 coverage “need to become trauma literate,” said Cait McMahon, founding managing director of the Dart Centre Asia Pacific in Melbourne, during a webinar Friday as part of ICFJ’s Global Health Crisis Reporting Forum.

Key Quotes: Combating the Infodemic Surrounding COVID-19

Reporters and news organizations should engage the public in debunking information in their own networks, said Andy Carvin, senior fellow at the Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab), during an ICFJ webinar Thursday. 

Key Quotes from #PROTOCall: How to Chase the Gaps in COVID-19 Data

Finding accurate and reliable data on the spread of COVID-19 has been at the center of every journalist’s effort in covering the pandemic and its resulting societal impacts. But what can reporters do when faced with scarce or incomplete data sources? 

Cuatro Tipos de Desinformación Sobre el COVID-19

Cuando llegaron los primeros casos de COVID-19 a América Latina, los chequeadores de datos de la región ya sabían que los países no iban a enfrentarse solamente a una enfermedad de la que ya hay centenares de miles de casos en todo el mundo. Con los ejemplos de China, Europa y Estados Unidos como antecedentes, anticiparon que, junto con el coronavirus, llegaría otra preocupación viral: publicaciones falsas o malintencionadas.

Key Quotes: A Story of Uncertainty: How to Deal with COVID-19 and Data

When reporting on the global pandemic, where can reporters find the exact figures for the number of people who are infected with COVID-19?

How Journalists are Documenting Loss During COVID-19

More than 120,000 people around the world have died of COVID-19 as of the writing of this piece. Journalists aren’t just working overtime to keep up with the pace of new information, regulations and implications of the myriad effects of the pandemic — they are grappling with how to document the losses many communities are grieving. 

Key Quotes: The Stark Contrast in Reporting Epidemics in South Africa with Journalist Mia Malan

South Africa provides a stark comparison of the government’s reaction to two deadly epidemics — HIV/AIDS and COVID-19, Mia Malan, a veteran journalist who covered both outbreaks, said in an ICFJ webinar on Thursday. In the case of HIV, government officials had an extremely hostile relationship with the news media, she said. With COVID-19, Malan said South Africa’s government did an about face.

#CoveringCOVID: Uncharted Territory for Freelance Photojournalists

Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, photojournalists around the world already faced challenging working conditions. Job security was waning, pay was minimal and a majority felt physically unsafe at least sometimes while on the job, according to a 2018 report by World Press Photo. The current health crisis has only magnified these challenges.