Update-1: Coronavirus poses new challenges for reporters, news organizations

Timely and reliable news reporting is more important than ever now as the coronavirus pandemic spreads rapidly across the world. The challenge is a daunting one for journalists faced not only with the task of sorting through complicated and often contradictory information but also with the risk of contracting COVID-19, the infectious disease caused by the new virus.

And even as people turn to the news media for information on the crisis, many U.S. newspapers are letting go of reporters and editors as advertising all but disappears.

In an Update-1 podcast, National Press Club Broadcast/Podcast Team member Bill Loveless talks to Jon Allsop, who writes a newsletter called “The Media Today” produced by the Columbia Journalism Review. Allsop is tracking reporting on COVID-19 in the U.S. and globally, as well as the pandemic’s devastating financial impact on newsroom staffs.

Club Broadcast/Podcast Team co-vice chair Mike Hempen produces Update-1. The podcast can be heard on the Club website or on iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn and Spotify by searching for "NPC Update-1."