IJU Exhorts Scribes To Be Careful While Covering Corona Virus

Hyderabad/Chandigarh, March 21 (Maxim News): Indian Journalists Union (IJU) called upon working journalists in country to take adequate precautions while covering Coronavirus pandemic by following Protocols and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) prescribed by the experts in the field.

In a statement issued on Saturday, 21 March 2020, the Indian Journalists Union (IJU) President K Sreenivas Reddy and Secretary-General Balwinder Singh Jammu said that as pointed out by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the working journalists and other media personnel along with security and health workers, had to be in the field to cover news as it happened, while the general public observed Janata Curfew for 14 hours on Sunday.

“While in the field, the working journalists and other media personnel should maintain safe distance from others, at least one meter, as prescribed by the experts. They should avoid physical contact, including shaking hands, at press conferences and other interactive sessions with officials and non-officials,” they said. The journalists should sanitise their hands and wear protective gear while interacting with suspected coronavirus infected persons, the statement advised.

They asked them to stick to the facts and report without exaggeration or downplaying, as it was dangerous to create panic or complacency to deal with the deadly virus. “It is not the time to sensationalize or supress information to the people”, they said.

The IJU leaders demanded the Union government and governments of various states to supply protective gearincluding masks and sanitisers to the media personnel covering the news related to the pandemic wherever it was required. They directed the affiliated state unions of IJU to create awareness among the working journalists about the safety measures they were required to take while on coverage duty. (Maxim News)