The past year has been uncharted territory for every person on the face of the planet. In the centuries before ours, there have been devastating outbreaks of diseases that have taken thousands if not millions of lives.
The 1918 Spanish flu outbreak and the Black plague in 1346 are the ones that come to mind. However, those were chalked off as diseases that had a greater impact during to the lack of development in medical sciences at the time.
This outlook was changed rather quickly when in late 2019 the Covid-19 outbreak started. In the span of just a few months the Chinese-originated virus had affected a lot of western countries impacting some more drastically than others. On one hand, countries like the UK, Italy, and India enforced a full lockdown which prohibited people from going out of their houses unless completely necessary, Sweden made the call of not enforcing a lockdown or even recommending masks. Either of these strategies hasn’t provided any results as there are still active cases all around the world.
Even in these testing times, there have been those who have worked endlessly to help people in need and ensure at least basic services are provided to help them survive.
In India, celebrities like Sonu Sood comes to mind who last year helped all the stranded laborers get back to their homes and this year has taken the responsibility of providing patients or rather providing hospitals with oxygen cylinders due to the shortage in the country.
While a lot of journalists in India have received flack for spreading fake news and creating propaganda campaigns across the country over recent years, there have been a few who have actually gone out of their way to make a positive difference during these dreadful times.
Here is a list of our 5 top Journalists who helped the country during Covid-19
- Barkha Dutt: A veteran in the field, Barkha Dutt is known for her courageous reporting and her fearlessness. The Kargil war of 1999 and the 26/11 attacks of 2008 are the instances that come to mind, and rather characteristically her approach to reporting during the Covid-19 pandemic has not been any different. During the pandemic, she has traveled across the country and given a voice to the oppressed or the less fortunate. The death of her father due to Covid-19 left her devasted, following which her interview with the Washington Post further spread light on the struggles that people are facing in India
- Rana Ayyub: The author of ‘Gujrat files: The anatomy of a cover-up has been a role model during the pandemic. As soon as the lockdown was enforced Rana Ayyub initiated a relief campaign that worked towards providing underprivileged people with rations during these tough times. She managed to raise upwards of ₹1.5 crores using a crowdfunding platform.
- Faye D’Souza: Since the start of the pandemic Faye has provided an in-depth analysis of all the challenges during the pandemic. Like working with a PPE kit, a change in the labour laws, or the cyclone that hit West Bengal. On top of that, she also donated the first earnings of her YouTube channel to an NGO that provides N95 masks to pregnant women.
- Ashwini Sripad: With the lockdown and people losing jobs the economy has taken a hit. This has left the people in lower-income groups in a horrible situation. One of the working groups that were hit the worst are the farmers. To correct this, Ashwini Sripad shed light on the hardships of the farmers in India and has also helped them financially.
- Supriya Sharma: Supriya Sharma is the executive editor at Scroll and is one of the bravest journalists that our country has to offer. During the pandemic, she was extensively covering the state of Uttar Pradesh and she also spoke about the distress in Domari. This led to her having an FIR registered against her but she managed to defend herself.
In such a horrifying time for all of us, these people with their fearless reporting and selfless acts have worked towards restoring the people’s faith in humanity and kindness.
