Americas

  
A homeless man wears a face mask against the spread of COVID-19 as he walks past a mural depicting Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, in Managua on April 9, 2020. Journalist Álvaro Navarro recently described to CPJ his experiences covering the pandemic in Nicaragua. (AFP/Inti Ocon)

Álvaro Navarro on covering COVID-19 in Nicaragua, Central America’s center of virus denial

Over the last two years–since protests and a government crackdown began in April 2018—Nicaraguan journalist Álvaro Navarro and his outlet, news website Artículo 66, have been a vital source of information for people looking for alternatives to the government’s discourse. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he and his team have been on the frontlines, reporting on…

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The Facebook logo is displayed on a mobile phone screen photographed on a COVID-19 illustration graphic background on March 25, 2020 in Arlington, Virginia. CPJ and partners called on social media and content sharing platforms to preserve data amid the pandemic. (AFP/Olivier Douliery)

CPJ, partners call on social media and content sharing platforms to preserve data

The World Health Organization has called the novel coronavirus an “infodemic” and the topic of disinformation and “fake news” has remained at the forefront of this century’s worst pandemic, with social media and tech platforms playing a central role. COVID-19 has forced many companies to move to remote work, and tech platforms and social media…

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A journalist is seen in Mexico City on April 8, 2020. Mexican journalists recently told CPJ that a lack of equipment and government obstruction are among their bigget concerns while covering the COVID-19 pandemic. (AFP/Pedro Pardo)

In Mexico, reporters covering COVID-19 face equipment shortages and government obstruction

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic struck Mexico, the country was already one of the most dangerous in the world for journalists, according to CPJ research.

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A passenger walks through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on March 15, 2020, in Seattle, Washington. CPJ recently spoke with journalists covering the COVID-19 pandemic in Seattle. (John Moore/Getty Images via AFP)

Seattle journalists describe covering COVID-19 as ‘relearning how to do their jobs’

Washington state was the first COVID-19 hotspot in the United States. Since its first case was reported on January 21, more than 10,000 people have been infected with the virus, and at least 511 have died.

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Journalist Dayanna Monroy covers the COVID-19 pandemic in Ecuador. (Courtesy of Dayanna Monroy)

Journalist Dayanna Monroy on covering the COVID-19 crisis in Ecuador

Dayanna Monroy reports for the Teleamazonas television station in the port city of Guayaquil, the epicenter of Ecuador’s COVID-19 outbreak. She and her colleagues have recently reported on bodies piling up in morgues and being left for days in the streets and in people’s homes, the results of overwhelmed hospitals, funeral homes, and cemeteries.

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An entrance to a beach is closed on March 31, 2020, in Miami Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

University of Florida student journalist on covering COVID-19 amid campus closure

When university campuses across the U.S. began to send students home in response to growing coronavirus concerns, student journalists did not close their student papers, pack up, and leave. Instead, many student journalists across the country have emerged as their communities’ local coronavirus news reporters. The student journalists at The Independent Florida Alligator at the…

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Medical staff are seen in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on March 27, 2020. CPJ recently spoke with Haitian journalist Robenson Sanon about covering the COVID-19 pandemic. (Reuters/Jeanty Junior Augustin)

Haitian journalist Robenson Sanon says covering COVID-19 feels like being ‘soldiers in the battlefield’

Reuters correspondent Robenson Sanon has been covering life in his home country of Haiti for over 10 years.

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A journalist records a press briefing following the arrival of the USNS Comfort, a naval hospital ship with a 1,000 bed-capacity at Pier 90 in New York, on March 30, 2020. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)

Speed, Clarity, Context: The New York Times’ Billie Sweeney on editing ‘Coronavirus Live Update’

In early February, only eight weeks ago but in a parallel universe that no longer exists, I invited Billie Sweeney, a senior staff editor at The New York Times, to tour the new CPJ office and visit with old friends. For nine years, from 2004 to 2013, Billie worked as CPJ’s editorial director, overseeing all…

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The New York City Housing Authority's John Haynes Holmes Towers are seen on April 4, 2019. CPJ recently spoke with housing reporter Sadef Ali Kully about reporting during the COVID-19 pandemic. (AP/Mark Lennihan)

Covering COVID-19 as a housing reporter in New York City

For Sadef Ali Kully, a housing and land use reporter for the nonprofit news outlet City Limits, meeting with sources in-person was an integral part of covering her beat in New York City. However, with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kully has needed to rethink how to perform the basics of her job.

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Video journalist Jon Gerberg is seen on assignment in Brazil. Gerberg told CPJ about the challenges of reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic. (Gustavo Canzian)

U.S. video journalist shares tips for covering COVID-19: ‘We have to get creative’

In early March, Jon Gerberg was in Detroit, Michigan, covering the Democratic primaries as a video journalist with The Washington Post. But as the COVID-19 virus has spread in the United States and around the world, Gerberg’s coverage has changed to focus on the pandemic.

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