Bangladesh ranks fifth in the world in terms of coronavirus-related deaths among journalists, according to the Press Emblem Campaign.
Globally, at least 442 media workers in 52 countries have died from the coronavirus since early March, said PEC.
In an update issued on November 2 to mark International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists 2020, the Genevabased PEC said Peru had the heaviest toll, with 93 journalists dying of Covid-19 since March.
India is the second most affected country with 47 deaths, Ecuador third with 41 deaths, Brazil following with 36, and Bangladesh being fifth with 35 fatalities, said PEC, a non-government organization with special consultative UN status.
Among the South Asian countries analyzed by PEC, 11 deaths were recorded in Pakistan, seven in Afghanistan and three in Nepal.
Covid-19 ravaging media houses
At least 26 media workers have succumbed to the coronavirus in Bangladesh, and 11 others have died with coronavirus-like symptoms as of November 8, according to “Our Media, Our Rights,” a social media-based journalist group.
Over a thousand media workers have so far been infected with the coronavirus in Bangladesh, it says.
A total of 1,009 journalists and employees of 191 national and local media houses have been infected with the deadly virus across the country. Among them, 710 were infected in Dhaka and 299 in outer Dhaka, while 941 have recovered.
Altogether 116 newspapers as well as 36 online portals, 32 television stations, five radio stations and two news agencies have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic in the country.
How can media workers be protected?
Since the Covid-19 pandemic arrived in Bangladesh, journalists have been on the frontlines alongside healthcare workers, law enforcement officials and other emergency service workers.
Many media outlets in Dhaka have asked newsroom staff to work from home and some have provided Personal Protective Equipment to journalists, but the efforts brought little relief for those who have to be on the ground to cover the coronavirus pandemic regularly.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic arrived in Bangladesh, the social media group “Our Media, Our Rights” has been compiling information on infections and deaths among journalists.
During the early stages of the pandemic, there was little effective action from the government, owners of media houses and journalist associations to protect media workers, coordinator of the group Ahammad Foyez told Dhaka Tribune.
“There was no preparation nor any initiatives,” he said.
Because of this mistake, a huge number of journalists were infected, and some died in the early stages of Covid-19. The number of infections and deaths among journalists came down when lockdowns were imposed.
“But the number of infections started going up again after the general holiday was withdrawn. Now we are waiting for a second wave and cases have been rising over the last few weeks,” he said.
Foyez called on the government and other stakeholders to sit together and formulate a guideline to prepare the media industry for better protection of its staff. Currently, the government and the private sector have many guidelines regarding transports, shopping malls and hospitals, among others, in place.
The government, public health experts, media house owners, and journalist associations can jointly contribute to the preparation of a guideline for the media industry, which should stay in effect for at least two years, he said.
“The written guideline can focus on what to do during coverage of an event, what the seating arrangements at media offices can be (for those attending office), how safety and protection will be ensured, etc,” Foyez further said.
Describing the global death toll among journalists as extremely heavy and unprecedented, PEC General-Secretary Blaise Lempen said the safety of all journalists who worked on the ground to inform people on the pandemic would be at stake if it was not addressed.
“Many victims are young; they have been infected at work. As the second wave has just begun, we urge all stakeholders to better protect the media workers, without preventing them from doing their job,” he said.
