Washington, D.C. – Today, the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) joins the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), along with a core coalition of over 30 media and nonprofit partners, in announcing the launch of a joint national campaign to recognize the #PRESSentials workers, and #ThankAJourno for their efforts on the frontlines of COVID-19. The coalition is asking the public to post on their social media accounts at 10am ET on April 9, and include messages of support and gratitude to journalists and newsrooms.
With the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world is hardly the place it ever was before. Emerging just at the end of 2019, the virus has spread throughout the world, disrupting billions of lives and creating unprecedented crises in first-world and third-world nations alike. As ever, people are adapting and learning to operate on a new norm to combat the pandemic. Journalists are no exception.
Information of COVID-19 is changing at an alarming rate, and like many other essential workers, journalists are risking their health and working long hours to keep covering stories that help to show the data, inform communities, and ask the hard questions of government officials.
According to a new Pew Research Center Election News Pathways survey conducted from March 10-16, 2020, “The COVID-19 pandemic has caught Americans’ rapt attention. Roughly half of U.S. adults (51%) are following news about it very closely, with another 38% following it fairly closely.”
More and more, the public is depending on the press for accurate information on what is happening locally, nationally, and globally.
“In a time when misinformation means life or death, we are relying even more on our journalists to provide accurate and accessible information,” said NAHJ Executive Director, Alberto B. Mendoza. “Our journalists deserve recognition for providing the public with the insight they need, to do their part in combating this pandemic and remaining healthy.”
As essential workers during this time, journalists have a difficult role of creating impact, as they too are being impacted. With this campaign, Americans everywhere can seize the opportunity to #ThankAJourno and express their appreciation for #PRESSential workers’ services to the world. A commitment fulfilled, despite the unavoidable hardships in a global pandemic.
Comprised of a coalition who represent every essential area of the fourth Estate, the #PRESSential campaign will serve to inform the public of the critical work done daily by journalists, unite the world in a spirit of gratitude for the press, and celebrate individuals and newsrooms for their diligence in serving their communities.
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