News publishers were considered “important” companies at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic, highlighting the critical position that journalists play in our society. Indeed, journalism has never been more critical than now, as the United States faces many problems, including a health-care crisis and accompanying economic downturn, a contentious political election and its aftermath, and a period of protest and grappling with structural racism. Despite this, the pandemic has had a negative effect on media in the United States at a time when people most need accurate facts to fight the deluge of mis- and misinformation.Following President Donald Trump’s lead, the pandemic has created unparalleled opportunities for political powers to stifle and delegitimize free press practices. Even as the demand for news has risen, newsrooms are facing immense financial pressures, causing some to close and others to make staff and other resource cuts. Journalists, like those in their families, have fallen victim to the virus.
The book Journalism and COVID-19: The Toll of a Pandemic [pen.org] attempts to humanize and detail the impact of the coronavirus on American journalism. Although we will never know the full extent of the pandemic’s effects, this project—which looks at the first ten months of the epidemic from March to December 2020—is a start. The project pays tribute to journalists and media workers whose lives were cut short as a result of COVID, focuses on five of the most adversely impacted newsrooms in the United States, and addresses cases of free press attacks linked to the coronavirus.
Sandy Mui (PEN America’s digital communications assistant) created this project as her independent research project for the Interactive Technology and Pedagogy certificate program at The Graduate Center, which was published by the literary and free speech organization PEN America. Mui also appeared on PEN America’s podcast, The PEN Pod [pen.org], to discuss the project’s humanized look at the pandemic’s effect on journalism and the process of putting it together. In her position as an assistant at The Graduate Center, Ximena Gallardo C.
