India: Journalists Start Testing Positive For Covid-19

Location: India, Mumbai
Date: April 24, 2020

We note with concern that Covid-19 tests have begun for journalists working on the front lines in the country and the results do not look good. In Mumbai, more than 50 journalists tested positive recently. Tests are underway in several cities.

While the actual number of women journalists who have tested positive is unknown, TV Journalist Shivangi Thakur took to Twitter to confirm that she had tested positive.

Dear All,

Many are trying to reach out to me and wanted to know whether I am ok or not. Unfortunately I am one of those mumbai journalist who tested POSITIVE for corona virus but I am doing well as of now. I keep praying, hoping and believing that soon I will win this battle.

— Shivangi Thakur (@thakur_shivangi) April 21, 2020

“Dear All, Many are trying to reach out to me and wanted to know whether I am ok or not. Unfortunately I am one of those mumbai journalist who tested POSITIVE for corona virus but I am doing well as of now. I keep praying, hoping and believing that soon I will win this battle,” she wrote.

Earlier, CFWIJ spoke to several Indian women journalists on how they were dealing with the financial meltdown in the industry. We found that in some cases women journalists were responsible for their own protective gear and transport, despite pay cuts and layoffs looming on the horizon. The pressure of not wanting to lose their job has kept women journalists on their toes, constantly trying to find more stories and get more done so that they don’t seem ‘dispensable’.

This predicament was confirmed by Gurbir Singh, the president of the Mumbai Press Club, who in a letter to the government authorities wrote: "Most media houses have shut their offices and have not provided any protective gear or special insurance to their frontline personnel. However, they continue to demand reports and visuals, and expect the journalists to move around the city risking life and limb."

The current environment is such that women journalists have no choice but to keep moving forward with their work. Anahita* - a mumbai-based journalist - spoke to CFWIJ on the condition of anonymity. She said that the names of those infected have not been revealed for safety.

We urge organizations to do more to support both their staff and freelancers at this time. Protective gear is a very basic requirement that all organizations must fulfill. Women journalists should not have to put themselves and their families in life-threatening situations to file these stories.

The CFWIJ strongly condemns the police brutality against journalists. We demand the immediate return of the press cards seized from the security forces. Policies to intimidate journalists should be abandoned, and journalism should be practiced under the criteria of freedom of the press.

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