Journalists face prison, harassment over pandemic reporting
In Algeria, three newspaper employees face 10 years in prison over a report alleging a state facility published false statistics regarding COVID-19. Slovenian journalist Blaž Zgaga tells CPJ that he has faced harassment and threats from the government over his reporting on the virus. In Kashmir, journalist Raihana Maqbool tells CPJ how the area's continuing lockdown has stifled free reporting. (Photo: Reuters/Ramzi Boudina)
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CPJ Coverage
Coronavirus Q&A
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CPJ’s safety experts provide information and support to all journalists, including freelancers and media workers, around the world. They host free, expert, information sessions with individual journalists or newsrooms on risk assessment, physical safety and digital security.
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CPJ in the News
- Why we need restrictions on coronavirus surveillance, CPJ Advocacy Director Courtney Radsch, Thomson Reuters Foundation
- COVID-19 is spawning a global press-freedom crackdown, CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon, Columbia Journalism Review
- World in Progress: Press freedom during the coronavirus pandemic, Featuring CPJ Advocacy Director Courtney Radsch, DW
- Harassment of Journalists Jeopardises Keeping Public Safe amid Coronavirus Pandemic, Ed Holt, Inter Press Service
- Harassment of Journalists Jeopardises Keeping Public Safe amid Coronavirus Pandemic, Ingrid Lunden, TechCrunch
- Protecting and supporting journalists during COVID-19, Twitter company blog
- How not to fight Chinese propaganda, CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon, Columbia Journalism Review
- The United States Can’t Win Playing China’s Media Games, CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Steven Butler, Foreign Policy
External Resources
- Mental health tips and resources for journalists, International Journalists' Network
- How journalists can work from home securely, Freedom of the Press Foundation
- Press freedom and government transparency during COVID-19, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
- Mental health considerations during COVID-19 outbreak, World Health Organization
- Coronavirus: Resources for reporters, First Draft
- Mental health experts offer counsel on staying calm during coronavirus pandemic, Joel Achenbach, The Washington Post
- Media ethics, safety and mental health: reporting in the time of Covid-19, Ethical Journalism Network
- Coronavirus Response Toolkit, National Association of Broadcasters
- How journalists can fight stress from covering the coronavirus, Al Tompkins and Sidney Tompkins, Poynter
- Covering the Coronavirus Pandemic, Student Press Law Center
- Resources for Freelancers Navigating COVID-19, Association of Independents in Radio
COVID-19 Emergency Funds for Journalists
The following funding opportunities are available to journalists struggling due to COVID-19. This list will be updated as more funds and information become available.
- AIR: The Freelance Audio Fund is available to AIR members in good standing. An additional fund will likely be made available to non-member audio makers and freelancers and small newsrooms.
- BBC: The BBC has committed £700,000 to The Film and TV Charity, which assists those who work in TV and film production. To find out more about the fund, sign up here.
- Format: Self-employed photographers facing financial hardship due to COVID-19 can apply to Format’s Photographer Fund for grants of up to $500 per person.
- Freelancers Union: The Freelancers Union’s Freelancers Relief Fund is offering grants of up to $1,000 per freelance household to cover lost income and essential expenses such as food and utility payments that are not covered by government relief programs.
- Fund for Investigative Journalism: The Fund for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) is offering emergency grants for U.S. freelancers who are reporting on the coronavirus, particularly around stories that break new ground and expose wrongdoing. The average grant will be around $5,000, but can be as high as $10,000.
- Internews: Internews’s rapid response fund will help small, local newsrooms survive in the face of COVID-19. The fund will launch with $100,000 and initial applications will be sought from existing Internews partners.
- IWMF: The International Women’s Media Foundation has created a Journalism Relief Fund with grants up to $2,000 for women-identifying journalists who face significant financial hardship, lost work, were recently laid off or who urgently need assistance.
- National Geographic: The COVID-19 Emergency Fund will distribute support ranging from $1,000–8,000 for local coverage of the preparation, response, and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund is open to writers, photographers, videographers, audio journalists, cartographers, filmmakers, and data visualization experts.
- PEN America: PEN America’s Writers’ Emergency Fund will distribute grants of between $500 and $1,000 to fiction and non-fiction authors, poets, playwrights, screenwriters, translators, and journalists. Applicants must be a professional writer based in the U.S.
- Women Photograph: For now, all donations to Women Photograph go toward an Emergency Fund for independent women and non-binary photographers impacted by COVID-19.