As journalists have to report from field, they are in the forefront similar to doctors and police services
More Pakistani journalists get Corona virus. The new affectees of corona virus come out as it spreads in City News Network. A total of 12 employees test positive including their senior management. The Director News of the channel is also corona virus positive. Moreover, Irfan Malik is their senior crime reporter who is also having corona virus.
City News Network comprises of five different channels. These include Channel 24, City 42, City 41, City 44 and Roohi TV. These corona virus positive cases are workers who belong to different departments of channels.
The media workers are at most risk as they are reporting from field. They are reporting from hospitals, quarantine centers, roads, streets and markets to let the people know of any updates. Thus, this puts them at risk situation.
Further, a few media organizations are providing protective kits to their workers. The City News Network also provides protective equipment and kits to their workers. However, this could not help these journalist to stay safe.
To deal with this situation, they now change the schedule of workers for entire team. For instance, a worker will work for one week and will get the other week off. This will help these media professionals from contracting the virus.
As the news breaks, there is a wave of panic in these organization. Some of the journalists are on leave and rest are working while taking all the precautionary measures. Moreover, the senior management barely visits office to ensure safety.
The television media is the primary source of information. Thus, the beat reporters and assignment editors are working day and night to ensure all news is there for the general public.
Read more: KP Police Seeks Food In Quarantine
As Pakistani media industry is facing serious financial challenges, a number of journalists are also facing severe financial crunch already. A number of them are working with unpaid salaries for several months. Now, the corona virus is is also haunting them.
Life of media workers
Life of media workers is not as easy as it seems. A Pakistani media worker spends all his life all in worries i.e. the tension of breaking news, of salary, as well as dealing with pressures from owners. The top ten media organizations in the country are earning in billions. On the other hand, their employees hardly get their salaries in time.
Along with this, thousands of journalists were sent home as soon the current PTI government came into power. Recently, a reporter in a famous news channel died with brain hemorrhage when he got fired. He was worried for being unable to buy bread and butter for his family.
Unlike the corporate sector, there are no facilities for media workers. They do not get any pension, health facilities or gratuity fund. Although, they risk their lives to report, but their services are hardly appreciated. Let’s hope the channels offer some sort of support for journalists who become corona virus positive while performing their duties.
Visit their site: https://www.city42.tv/
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