May 1-2: Journalists fight against the COVID-19 misinformation

António Guterres believes a global approach is the only way to fight the virus which has motivated his humanitarian appeal.

Journalists provide ‘antidote’ to COVID-19 misinformation, UN chief says ahead of World Press Freedom Day

May 1: The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, is calling for greater protection of journalists who are fighting against the misinformation spread during COVID-19 pandemic, according to UN News.

As the pandemic spreads, it has also given rise to a second pandemic of misinformation, from harmful health advice to wild conspiracy theories.

“The press provides the antidote: verified, scientific, fact-based news, and analysis,” Guterres.

Guterres made the appeal in a video message for World Press Freedom Day on Sunday, which he emphasized the crucial role media has in helping people make informed decisions.

Both the UN Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO) have been focused on countering the COVID-19 “infodemic.”

Egypt has made journalism a crime with crackdown, says Amnesty International

May 2: The Guardian reported that the Egyptian government is using the pandemic to tighten control of media and eliminate dissent, according to Amnesty International.

Amnesty International explained as the number of coronavirus infections in Egypt continues to rise, the government is strengthening its control over information instead of upholding transparency.

“The Egyptian authorities have made it very clear that anyone who challenges the official narrative will be severely punished,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa director.

Amnesty documented 37 cases of journalists being detained in the government’s escalating crackdown on press freedoms. Many had been charged with “spreading false news” or “misusing social media.”

Journalists interviewed by Amnesty reported increasingly direct state intervention in their coverage. Many working for government-owned or aligned papers said they receive specific instructions via WhatsApp on what to report and to omit.

Dozens of journalists die from coronavirus since March 1 according to NGO

May 2: Dozens of journalists have died worldwide from the novel coronavirus in the past two months, a press freedom organization said Friday, according to the Manila Bulletin.

Ahead of World Press Freedom Day on Sunday, the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) warned that many journalists were putting themselves in harm’s way to report on the global crisis, with many falling ill from COVID-19 themselves in the process.

Since March 1, the PEC said it had recorded the deaths of 55 media workers across 23 countries from the virus, although it stressed that it remained unclear if all of them had become infected on the job.

“Journalists are at great risk in this health crisis because they must continue to inform, by going to hospitals, interviewing doctors, nurses, political leaders, specialists, scientists, patients,” PEC said in a statement.