India: Despite constantly being on the field and on duty throughout the pandemic, journalists were mostly not considered as frontline workers and were not given priority in the vaccination drive. And now, a study has found that more than 300 media persons, including many well-known journalists, lost their lives due to the virus.
On average, three journalists died every day in April 2021. In May, this average climbed to four per day.
The second wave has not only claimed the lives of several senior journalists but has also killed many others working in districts, towns and villages across different Indian states.
The second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic has been far more devastating for the media than the first. According to the report by the Institute of Perception Studies, the first wave of the pandemic, from April to December 2020, killed 56 journalists. In comparison, the second wave claimed the lives of 171 journalists between April 1, 2021, and May 16, 2021. The remaining 11 journalists died between January and April.
About 55 percent of the journalists who died of Covid-19 were from print media, 25 percent from TV and digital media and 19 per cent from freelance journalism.
