Harassment of Journalists Jeopardises Keeping Public Safe amid Coronavirus Pandemic

In Iran, which has seen some of the highest COVID-19 infection and death rates in the world, a number of reporters are now facing jail after being detained earlier this month for challenging official statistics about the outbreak of the disease in the country. People in Rasht, Gilan Province, Iran, taking precautions to prevent infection by wearing masks in public. unsplash-logomojtaba mosayebzadehBy Ed HoltBRATISLAVA, Mar 20 2020 (IPS) Growing intimidation and repression of journalists reporting on the coronavirus is threatening public health in some countries, press freedom monitors have warned. Repressive regimes desperate to control the narrative around the disease’s spread have stepped up their harassment of journalists challenging official information on cases and their handling of the outbreak, they say. And by cracking down on those trying to report accurately on the disease, these regimes are jeopardising the dissemination of essential facts the population may need to keep themselves safe, the groups argue. “When the truth is repressed, everyone’s lives are put in danger, not just journalists,’” Robert Mahoney, deputy executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), told IPS. Since the emergence of the disease at the end of last year in China and its subsequent transformation into a global pandemic, there have been growing concerns over the treatment of reporters covering virus outbreaks in some states. In China, there have been report...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Editors' Choice Featured Global Headlines Health Press Freedom Regional Categories TerraViva United Nations China Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Coronavirus COVID-19 Iran Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Source Type: news