Will Journalists Get the Covid Vaccine First?
Posted on Sunday, November 29, 2020 at 10:28 PM
In the news: A recent Poynter.org piece discusses whether or not
journalists will likely be among the first to receive the Covid-19
vaccine.
When we talk about first-line responders, we
typically think about doctors, nurses, and other emergency personnel
leading the charge against the Covid-19 pandemic. But there are also
provisions in place for journalists, as demonstrated by a formal request
filed this week. Al Tompkins of Poynter.org reports that the National
Press Photographers Association (NPPA) has asked the CDC to include
journalists who interact with the public regularly among the wave of
first responders who get the vaccine first.
Per Tompkins, “NPPA
says the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and
Infrastructure Security Agency set a precedent for putting people
working in “telecommunications” high on the list of those who would get
COVID-19 immunizations when it recognized front-line news reporters as
critical infrastructure workers.” What’s more, “DHS and CISA refined the
vague, broad language to recognize journalists as essential workers.”
Read more here.
Also
Notable
Health Check: How Are Magazines Faring in the
Pandemic?
Earlier this month, Kali Hays of Women’s Wear
Daily assessed how the magazine industry, both digital and print,
are faring these days. As one might expect, some magazines are doing
better than others. Summing up the state of things, Hays writes: “Nearly
40 percent of magazines that publish on at least a quarterly basis have
seen their audiences decline so far this year, according to updated data
from the Alliance for Audited Media.... That’s on top of a major
pullback in advertising this year due to the ongoing coronavirus
pandemic and the related contraction of the global economy.” Read more here.
Special
Report: A Changing Newsroom Landscape
In the Winter 2020
edition of the Columbia Journalism Review, Kyle Pope examines how
the dawning Biden administration and ongoing pandemic may deal some
harsh blows to an already ailing news industry. Newsrooms that were
still struggling despite Trump-era subscription boosts were hit hard by
the Covid pandemic. “Some editors took pay cuts, others were laid off,
and a few outlets shuttered,” Pope says. “Reporters were cast out by the
dozen. Now the winter is upon us, and the pandemic is worsening. The
human costs will be severe, as will the stakes for news advertising
revenue and subscriptions. Many small newsrooms received federal bailout
money, but the prospect of another tranche is grim.” Pope also notes
that news sources that thrived on unpredictable news cycles in the Trump
era will likely see revenue declines: “Once January arrives and Trump
leaves the White House, it’s likely that the subscription surges and
record viewership enjoyed by the biggest newsrooms during his tenure
will begin to recede.” Read more here.
A
Push to Classify Social Media as Publishers
In a recent Editor
& Publisher piece, TAPInto.net CEO/publisher Michael Shapiro
makes a case for reclassifying social media sites as publishers under
Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act. Currently, social
media sites are shielded from liability for user-generated content, but
Shapiro argues that it’s time for this to change. Lawmakers on both
sides of the aisle agree; Shapiro notes that “Democrats believe that
platforms aren’t doing enough to moderate disinformation and hate
speech, while Republicans are arguing that platforms are censoring
conservative perspectives.” So while the current arrangement is
beneficial to the social media companies themselves, allowing them to
proliferate unchecked as new sources, that arrangement is a threat to
democracy, says Shapiro. “Without a framework for more effective
moderation,” he says, “Americans are getting an increasingly steady diet
of disinformation and misinformation that is given credibility by its
spread on social media. This is having a deleterious effect on American
civic life and is leading to increased polarization.” Read more here.
The
Year’s Best Magazine Covers
In a year full of
earth-shattering headlines, which magazine covers made their mark? Which
best captured the essence of what was, for many, a rough year? Caysey
Welton of Foliomag.com rounds up some of 2020’s best cover designs.
Included are the New Yorker’s June 22 Black Lives Matter cover,
with art by Kadir Nelson, and New York Times Magazine’s May 24
“What We’ve Learned in Quarantine” cover, with art by Brian Rea. To see
all the featured covers, click here.
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