With good reason, this is a time for all of us to stay at home, and to whatever extent possible, work from home. The government’s decision to extend the lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19, then, is not only an admirable one, but a necessary one.
Some services are, of course, outside the purview of the lockdown. Doctors and medical professionals need to be able to move about to combat this crisis, as do super-market staff, and those engaged in transporting essential supplies.
Such people make life possible under lockdown, and we salute them for their round-the-clock efforts.
However, another sector, one that may not immediately come to mind when one thinks of emergency services, is the news media.
In times of crisis, more than ever, it is imperative for the press to be able to be able to gather and publish reliable news. The Covid-19 crisis has been, unfortunately, a breeding ground for all kinds of rumours and conspiracy theories. So bad has been the spread of rumours, that popular messaging app WhatsApp was forced to restrict the number of forwarded messages allowed.
To that end, we request the government to let professional journalists do their jobs, without hindrances and harassment. In these trying times, with the death toll climbing at an alarming rate, people need trustworthy information and updates from reputed news outlets.
If news media is unable to do its job freely, then the ensuing spread of misinformation may end up causing incalculable damage.