covering COVID-19 in India

Prachee Kulkarni is a journalist based in Pune, Maharashtra. She works for Pune Mirror as its principal correspondent and has been covering the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic for the paper. 

Prachee normally reports on politics and civic issues for her paper. But COVID-19 has changed a lot.

“There are issues ranging from basic health concerns, to addictions, to economic crises, to daily impact on every single citizen’s life. 17 slum dwellers are confining them in a small room in a bid to survive. This is not something one will regularly get to witness,” she said when informing CFWIJ about the impact of COVID-19 on her reporting.

Talking about the experience of reporting COVID-19 so far, Prachee describes it to be “painful”, given the levels at which the virus has affected the lives of the citizens.

Prachee Kulkarni.jpg

“Along with the concerns in healthcare it has also caused an economic crisis due to the lockdown and has impacted the lives of the specially the poor and middle class,” she said.

India has been in a lockdown for more than a month now. Despite the restrictions placed by the government, Prachee stated that cases in some parts of the country still continue to rise.

“Only a few states like Kerala have managed to control the spread with various measures. Government authorities do send out figures and daily updates however there are many untold stories beyond the data. I am trying to focus on this as a journalist.”

When asked if journalists in India are facing any restrictions by the government in terms of coverage Pracahee said, “No there are no restrictions.”

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by The Coalition for Women in Journalism

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