Editors Guild demands govt vaccinate journalists on priority, condoles those who died of Covid

Editors Guild of India remembers 'bravery' of journalists who worked on the frontlines of Covid & succumbed to it. Notes risks many of them, including freelancers, have had to face.

Relatives remove the shrouded body of a Covid-19 fatality from an ambulance at the Nigambodh Ghat crematorium in New Delhi India, on Monday, April 19, 2021. | Photographer: T. Narayan | Bloomberg

New Delhi: The Editors Guild of India Friday condoled the deaths of journalists who have died due to Covid-19 since the pandemic began last year, noting how their bravery helped bring to the fore the “great human tragedy that has been unfolding before us”.

In view of the mounting fatalities, the Guild further noted its distress at the central government not taking steps to hasten the vaccination of journalists who have been on the frontline since the beginning. It therefore demanded that journalists be vaccinated on priority along with frontline workers and urged media organisations to ensure the safety of their staff.

Read the full statement here:

The Editors Guild of India condoles the deaths of journalists who have died because of Covid-19 over the past year. In April 2021 itself, more than 52 journalists died because of the virus. Further, according to the Delhi based Institute of Perception Studies, more than 100 journalists have died since the lockdown was first declared from April 1, 2020. Many of these were brave journalists who had been reporting on the worsening pandemic and bringing to fore stories on the great human tragedy that has been unfolding before us. It also includes editors and other members of the editorial teams who have ensured that newsrooms keep churning out these stories without any break. The Guild pays homage to the fortitude and the commitment to work that these journalists have displayed over the past year.

The Guild is extremely distressed that the central government has yet not taken any steps to hasten the vaccination of journalists over the last few months. Many of them were freelancers and hence were not insured. Others who worked for media organizations did not necessarily enjoy the assurance and comfort of being insured by their companies. To make matters worse, besides the health risks borne out of such reporting, there have been the additional pressures from some of the state governments and agencies that have threatened against independent reporting of the pandemic in an effort to control the media narrative.

Few weeks ago, EGI had demanded that journalists be declared as frontline workers and be vaccinated on priority to protect them from the new variant. Despite the support from various state governments and media organisations, the central government has not responded to this request. Now, even though vaccination has been technically opened for all above 18 years of age, there is the acute shortage of vaccines.

Therefore the Guild’s urgent demand that journalists be given priority along with other frontline workers. The Guild also urges all media organisations to take all the necessary steps to ensure the safety of their journalists.