NEW DELHI, May 6: The month of April seems to be the worst for journalists in India, with 52 deaths being reported in just 28 days which implies that on an average, two journalists have died every day last month, according to a study conducted by the Delhi-based Institute of Perception Studies.
Out of the 52 casualties in the second wave of the pandemic as many as eight journalists belonged to North East, the data showed. In the national capital alone, eight journalists have died in the last month out of which four are from North East including Kalyan Barooah (The Assam Tribune) his wife Neelakhi Bhattacharya (The Times of India).
Incidentally, India emerges as the second-most COVID-19-affected nation in the world to lose 141 journalists where the global tally reaches 1,248 scribes in 75 countries due to coronavarius-related complications since March 2020, when the pandemic hit the human race. Brazil with 187 media COVID casualties remains at the top of the victims’ list, where Peru (140 dead) is just behind India, according to the Geneva-based media body, Press Emblem Campaign (PEC).
More than hundred journalists, many of whom are from North East, have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic started a year ago, according to the study of the Institute of Perception Studies. “As many as 101 journalists have succumbed to COVID-19 between April 1, 2020, and April 28, 2021,” it said.
Media channels and organisations have been working non-stop since the onset of the pandemic in India, trying to collate and verify the actual number of deaths. Journalists are not only reporting on the national health crisis, but confronting it, daily, which has taken a toll on them, the study said.
Moreover, the Geneva-based media rights and safety body requests early vaccinations for journalists on the frontlines. It also commented that the human cost of the pandemic remains high where over 1,200 journalists have lost their lives due to novel coronavirus aggravated ailments.
“Journalists are engaged in a profession which is particularly exposed to the virus and it is an unprecedented loss to the profession as a number of them died for lack of adequate protective measures when doing their job. But the media workers have an important role to play in the fight against the virus and hence their safety should be a priority as they have to continue providing information from the ground,” said Blaise Lempen, secretary-general of PEC, said in a statement which was widely quoted.
“Casualty among media persons due to COVID-19 complications in India must be higher than what we have recorded. In many cases, the media houses avoid reporting their own victims or do it with lots of secrecy,” said Nava Thakuria, PEC’s country representative. India is now losing nearly four journalists every day and if the trend continues, our country will top the list of corona-victims among journalists in the world very soon, he added.
