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Safe and responsible reporting on COVID-19

April 7, 2020

For more information, see the Media and COVID-19 Resource Guide.

In the light of the COVID-19 crisis, this page provides an overview of resources for journalists who are covering COVID-19: information on how to report responsibly, and how to take care of one’s well-being during this crisis.

Resources on COVID-19

Resources for journalists covering COVID-19

Resources for journalists working from home

See this page for more information on protecting one’s digital safety (while working from home).

Funds and grants

  • Reporters Respond (Free Press Unlimited). Offers support to journalists in distress who need support in order to continue their vital work as quickly as possible.
  • Legal Defense Fund (Free Press Unlimited). Offers legal support to journalists who are charged or arrested because of COVID-19 reporting.
  • European Journalism COVID-19 Fund (European Journalism Centre & Facebook Journalism Project). Offers financial support to European news organisations, supporting community engagement, addressing critical business needs, and facilitating coverage of the pandemic.
  • COVID-19 Hardship Fund (Rory Peck Trust). Offers financial support to freelance journalists whose only source of income is from journalism and who are unable to access any assistance (governmental, non-governmental) in their country of residence.
  • Rapid Response Fund (Internews). Offers financial support to journalists and small, local news organisations worldwide.
  • COVID-19 Emergency Fund for Journalists (National Geographic). Offers emergency support for journalists all over the world who wish to cover COVID-19 within their own communities, especially seeking to deliver news to underserved populations.
  • The Photographer Fund (Format). Offers assistance to self-employed photographers who are facing financial hardship as a result of COVID-19.
  • Freelance Audio Fund (Association of Independents in Radio). Offers emergency relief to the professional audio community impacted by COVID-19.
  • Journalism Relief Fund (International Women’s Media Foundation). Offers assistance to women-identifying journalists who have faced significant financial hardship, lost work, were recently laid off or who urgently need assistance as a result of COVID-19.
  • COVID-19 Emergency Fund (Women Photograph). Offers one-time support to independent women and non-binary photographers globally who need assistance as a result of COVID-19.
  • Arctivists (Centre for Applied Human Rights, through a grant from the Open Society Foundations). Call for ‘arctivists’: support for activists and artists across the world responding to the outbreak of COVID-19 and its implications for human rights defenders, activism, and shrinking civic and political space.
  • Coronavirus News Collaboration Challenge (Pulitzer Center). Call for proposals that develop innovative approaches to reporting on the coronavirus crisis using collaboration among journalists and newsrooms across state lines or national borders.
  • Coronavirus Rolling Grant for US Freelancers (Fund for Investigative Journalism). Call for stories on the coronavirus that break new ground and expose wrongdoing – such as corruption, malfeasance, or abuse of power – in the public and private sectors.
  • Coronavirus Fact-Checking Grants (International Fact-Checking Network & Facebook). Call for proposals that emphasise amplifying the fact-checking, increasing the reach and impact of the #CoronaVirusFacts Alliance and the fighting against health misinformation related to COVID-19 only.

For regional or local opportunities for funds and grants, see this overview.

Webinars

The Role of Media in Covering the COVID-19 Outbreak (Internews)11 March
Disinformation Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic (Wilson Center)7 April
On Personal Protective Equipment (Dupon)16 April
Advice for Journalists: Addressing Traumatic Stress in the Era of COVID-19 (Reporters Without Borders & American Psychological Association)18 April
Local News in Times of Crisis (Center for International Media Assistance)24 June
Reporting and COVID-19: Conversations for Journalists (Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma)
Ongoing webinar series
Webinar Series for Journalists Covering COVID-19 (International Center for Journalists & IJNet)
Ongoing webinar series
Covering Coronavirus: A Webinar Series (Center for Health Journalism)
Ongoing webinar series		Coming up:
Covering Coronavirus: The Economy or Your Health? (8 July)
Investigating the Pandemic (Global Investigative Journalism Network)
Ongoing webinar series, in various languages		Coming up:
Surviving as a Freelance Journalist (9 July)

Courses

Journalism in a Pandemic: Covering COVID-19 Now and in the Future (Knight Center, World Health Organisation & UNESCO)4 – 31 May
Reporting on COVID-19 (Thomson Foundation)
In English, Spanish, Arabic, French, Ukrainian, Russian		Safety: in collaboration with the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and Dart Centre Europe
Content creation: in collaboration with the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), The Ethical Journalism Network, Dart Centre Europe, and Free Press Unlimited
Verification: in collaboration with First Draft
Self-paced courses