At least 44 journalists have died from COVID-19 in India as reporters, photojournalists, and videographers race to cover the pandemic’s spread through the country, often without protective equipment. The youngest among them was Jai Deep, a 28-year-old photojournalist from Punjab.
By Tariq Hashmat
When BBC Global News’ Director of Sales & Marketing Chris Davies launched the “Live the Story” campaign to highlight journalists’ commitment to the field, he would not have envisioned living COVID-19. For if there’s one story no scribe would ever want to live, it is this pandemic.
And yet, when duty calls, they step out and expose themselves to this unknown yet deadly virus. Many have lost their lives to this infection, becoming just another number in a continuous ticker of the death toll. But as one of the many lessons this pandemic has taught us, there are always stories behind every number, and it is these stories that matter.
On May 27, Delhi-based video journalist Yogesh Kumar collapsed at his home. He was brought dead to the hospital and posthumously tested COVID positive. Kumar’s news studio was temporarily shut down, and his colleagues were also tested for the virus.
Kumar was not the first Indian journalist to die of COVID-19, and he was not the last one either. On July 6, when 39-year old journalist Tarun Sisodia jumped off the roof of India’s premier hospital in the national capital, it was certainly not the disease that killed him. But the pandemic did push him to commit suicide. He was COVID positive, had lost his job a few days prior to his death, and was under extreme mental stress.
Equally tragic stories befell the families of Padurang Raikar, Neelanshu Shukla, Rajiv Ketan, Davinder Pal Singh, Golap Saikia, Florent C. Pereira, and dozens of other journalists who, in extensively covering the nation under a pandemic, fell prey to the disease.
With over 8 million cases recorded in India, the virus has impacted the entire cross-section of society in more ways than one. The country has witnessed numerous challenges spiral out of the outbreak. The pandemic outbreak pushed the nation in lockdown and triggered a massive migrant exodus. An already struggling economy was further pushed off the cliff. In the thick of the pandemic, and of each one of these issues, there were journalists on the frontline.
According to data from the Swiss-based non-governmental organisation Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), at least 44 media practitioners have lost their lives to COVID-19 in India alone.
Health Analytics Asia tracks down their names. The youngest among them was Jai Deep, a 28-year-old photojournalist from Patiala in Punjab.
At state’s mercy
On April 22, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issued an advisory requesting the journalists covering the pandemic to “take due precautions” and the media houses to “take necessary care of their field staff.”
The safety guidelines issued by UNICEF for journalists reporting on COVID-19 have been circulated in India as well. However, within a fortnight of the ministry’s advisory, over 100 journalists had tested positive for the coronavirus when the entire country had just over 42,000 cases.
Going a step ahead in order to recognise their efforts, states like Odisha and Andhra Pradesh have recognised journalists as ‘corona warriors’. The government of Odisha announced a compensation of Rs 1,500,000 as financial assistance to the families of journalists dying of COVID-19.
A day after Jai Deep’s death, the government of Punjab announced a compensation package of Rs 1,000,000 to the kin of deceased journalists. Andhra Pradesh too has recently agreed to extend financial assistance of Rs 500,000.
Inconsistencies in the way each state has deliberated on this issue, coupled with the lack of a national policy has resulted in unequal treatment towards their families. The death of veteran journalist Pankaj Kulshrestha triggered emotional condolences from the corridors of government. There were appeals to provide financial assistance, but the family of Kulshrestha has not been disbursed any form of compensation yet.
The state of healthcare infrastructure has been a persistent undercurrent, and journalist victims have been at the receiving end of it as well. Hyderabad’s crime reporter Manoj Kumar was admitted for COVID-19. He texted his brother from inside the ICU, complaining of lack of facilities or adequate care, and requesting his brother to have him shifted to a better hospital. He died of the infection less than 24 hours later. Officials, however, denied all allegations of improper facilities at the hospital Kumar was admitted to.
The family of Pune based TV reporter Pandurang Raikar, too, alleged that his treatment was delayed, prompting a probe into his death.
Between the devil and deep sea
The economic fallout, intensified by the global pandemic, has hit the media industry hard. The World Association of Press Councils (WAPC), recognised by the United Nations, urged press and media councils across the globe to take up the “serious issue of journalists losing their jobs due to COVID-19 pandemic.”
India’s Ministry of Labour and Employment issued a statement on March 20, advising media companies against laying off their staff or enforcing pay-cuts. Nevertheless, many media houses fired staff by the dozens, shut down complete divisions of their business, cut salaries, and forced staff into leaves without pay.
Print media faced the first brunt as newspaper deliveries were suspended across the nation during the lockdown. Printing houses were shut and contracts of journalists terminated. In an attempt to keep the businesses afloat, the Indian Newspaper Society wrote multiple letters to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting demanding the removal of customs duty on newsprint, among other tax and revenue benefits.
Freelance journalists got the raw end of the deal, as they received little to no support from the organisations they covered their stories for. Health Analytics Asia reached out to a journalist who freelanced during the lockdown. “I got a call from the editor of the publishing house I was doing a story for. He, rather insensitively, said that if I got infected while working, they will not cover for me,” said the freelancer.
“They did not want to risk exposing their own reporters on the field while remaining minimally accountable for the dangers we were stepping into. This also pushed a lot of work on to us; the freelancers.”
As for those who still ply their trade, the threat of the virus still looms large.
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