In this fight against COVID-19 the nation and the states have taken serious note of the roles played by people from various spectrum now known as ‘coronawarriors’.
A recognition that sounds most appropriate and it requires no elaboration who the warriors are and no amount of thanks can match their hard work.
Medical, police, banking, the supply chains and many others who also contribute to the maiden fight against the virus deserve thumping pats.
Odisha government is mulling for some financial stimulus for the people and the ‘warriors’ as well.
The Centre has already announced some packages covering about over 80 crore beneficiaries through schemes spanning over three months, but one wing that misses out from the list of such warriors, is the media.
Which occasionally finds a mention here and there but has not been able to place itself within the broader spectrum despite playing a crucial role in dissemination of news and creating an awareness against the enemy known as COVID-19.
Be it the print media or the electronics, both fall under a common definition which codifying one role, that is news that one sees and news in-between.
Nights come to this lot very late and the morning breaks on them with a virtual catatonic stupor early. The spreading fear out, on the streets, on the virus cannot stop them but, an unspoken exigency that finds a host in this lot, make them to swiftly dismiss short the morning health tips in order to reach at the designated locations.
Right from the word go he or she can be seen hopping, got glued to the Smartphone screen and then pants to the destination, office or at the ground-zero, after a hasty bite of any food comes his away or even without a crumb.
Be it from any side of the coin, a journalist, either at the office or in the field, is notionally held across all spectrum as a paradigm of integrity, the one who has to speak, write or show the truth without any opinion of himself.
He takes a plunge into that world now fraught with virus, on the the streets, bazaars and hospitals where a disastrous thing called Corona is at large. His or her palpitation doubles when a man from the assignment telephones with his set of priorities to be followed.
He can be often seen frog-leaping in that suspicious air of fear of the virus who can be anywhere.
The only thing that isolates them from the contagion is a mask and a self-acclaimed assumption that, Corona may not affect him.
Urgencies, more often than not, force the professional to push ahead as unorthodoxly as possible, unmindful of when does the suspended virus gives him that critical embrace.
Days and nights, it is all same as he or she keeps slogging till the last call from the office.
It is either the Centre or the State, where do they find a media man ?
Just a cursory mention at the end of any development and a thanking. Forget about a clap or a pat, in the stimulus packages announced by governments, sadly, the media is pathetically kept untouched.
