https://zimbabwe.misa.org
Impact of Covid 19 on Media Sustainability
impacts on journalists - mentally, physically,
professionally and socially - are likely to worsen
as the pandemic wears on.64
digitally. The costliness of data in the region is
uneven, with eSwatini and Zimbabwe topping
the list, according to policy and regulation think
tank Research ICT Africa’s 1GB Basket statistics.68
According to ARISA, the huge burden of the
Covid-19 story has imposed increased workloads
leading to exhaustion and trauma.65
PPE, internet access and equipment
An IFJ survey of more than 1300 frontline
journalists in 77 countries found, “More than a
quarter lack essential equipment to enable them
to work safely from home, while one in four lack
any protective equipment to work in the field.”
An ICFJ survey noted many employers failed to
supply reporters with protective equipment, and
30% said “field reporters had not been supplied
with a single piece of safety equipment.”66
An IFJ survey cited above found a quarter of
the respondents lacked personal protective
equipment (PPE) and more than a quarter lacked
equipment to work from home.67 In the region,
these constraints on journalism activity would
have varied greatly.
Covering the Covid-19 crisis while maintaining
social distance and ensuring personal safety
while being productive brought new challenges
for journalists and their organisations. News
organisations would have had to buy laptops
for journalists to work from home and provide
cellphone data for journalists to communicate
Research by Internews found that the employers
of radio and TV journalists did not have the
budget to buy equipment such as parabolic
microphones for safe social distancing during
interviews.
Journalists also wanted cell phone data form
their organisations.69
“There were countries where there was no
protective clothing in the newsrooms so Malawi
I think and Zimbabwe with some journalists
even having reported to us that they were having
to access isolation centres without any form of
protection because their media houses couldn’t
afford it. And then the amount of money the
media houses were providing for data support,
for transportation, for research for stories on
the internet is a pittance compared to what the
journalists have to use, and that was resulting
in some poorly researched stories.” 70 At the
beginning of May, the Swedish embassy in
Zimbabwe donated $25 000 of PPE and hand
sanitizer to protect journalists from Covid-19
infection in the course of their duties.71
64. Posetti, Bell, and Brown, “Journalism and the Pandemic - A Global Snapshot of Impacts.”
65. {Citation}
66. Posetti, Bell, and Brown, “Journalism and the Pandemic - A Global Snapshot of Impacts,” 12.
67. IFJ, “Exposed.”
68. Paula Gilbert, “The Most Expensive Data Prices in Africa,” Connecting Africa, December 18, 2019, http://www.connectingafrica.
com/author.asp?section_id=761&doc_id=756372.
69. Mawarire, Internews Effect of Covid-19 on news media
70. Mawarire
71.Herald Reporter, “Journalists Get Protective Clothing,” The Herald, May 5, 2020, https://www.herald.co.zw/
journalists-get-protective-clothing/.
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