Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic: A Handbook for Journalists

"The media can play a significant role in raising awareness, dispelling myths and exposing misleading information, as well as in promoting kindness, preventing stigmatisation and infusing confidence among the people by disseminating fair and accurate reports."

This handbook for journalists, published jointly by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Field Office for Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the Press Institute of India (PII), Chennai, is an attempt to empower journalists (editors and reporters) to help India fight COVID-19 through well-thought-out, researched, and responsible articles and feature stories.

UNICEF and PII contend that journalists can help during the pandemic by promoting kindness, preventing stigmatisation, and instilling confidence among people as they disseminate factual and accurate reports. They can contribute to creating a positive atmosphere by publishing and broadcasting survivor stories of recovery. This handbook is strengthen their capacity to do that work.

Contents include:

Introduction

1. Understanding the Novel Coronavirus
2. Fact check
3. Different perspectives [highlights some layers that journalists can explore during the COVID-19 pandemic]
4. The ethics and etiquette of covering the pandemic [includes chart with dos and don'ts for journalists]
5. Some reliable sources of information
6. Addressing social stigma associated with COVID-19
7. Awareness material [provides examples of posters and graphics from organisations like UNICEF and the World Health Organization, or WHO]