INMA – 05/04/2020
Madhavi Sekhri
The world’s most comprehensive lockdown, effectively confining 1.3 billion Indians to their homes for 21 days, has necessitated numerous adjustments in every way of life, including the business of news.
Earmarked as an “essential service” and therefore given certain exemptions to an otherwise unfettered restriction on movement, Indian media has been tasked with the responsibility of ensuring credible and verified information reaches the entire population, rather than unsubstantiated “fake news” that has the potential to trigger panic and provide incorrect hygiene and social distancing information. The Indian media has risen to the challenge despite serious hits to advertising revenue and several logistical blockages that such a massive lockdown exercise inadvertently creates. The numerous adjustments, like elsewhere in the world, include: