The coronavirus pandemic touches every corner of the earth. In two hundred thirteen countries, more than eight hundred thousand people have died, and there have been nearly twenty-five million cases confirmed. Everywhere, the public health crisis has brought economic suffering; the need for political response is urgent; journalism has an essential role to play. The task before the press has been daunting. By speaking with dozens of reporters and editors around the world, we have tracked how, as infection has spread, repression, too, has been rampant. Journalists on different continents attest to similar experiences—obfuscation, detention, threats to their livelihoods and their families—as they attempt to cover a story in which everyone’s life is at stake. The interviews for this project were conducted by Lynsey Chutel, Lauren Harris, Linda Kinstler, Tony Lin, Zainab Sultan, and Stephania Taladrid.
Read more at Columbia Journalism Review.