Press Club – How has COVID-19 Changed Journalism?

Wednesday, February 17, 2021 at 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm EST 

This event will be broadcast online and is free and open to all – there is no login or registration required to tune in. Click here to watch the livestream.

Like countless other industries, media outlets have experienced profound changes from the COVID-19 pandemic. Established processes by which journalists cover stories, communicate with each other and serve the public have all experienced significant upheaval. Many of these disruptions are still emerging and may not be sufficiently understood until long after public health stability is re-established.

Even then, it would be unwise to assume the end of COVID-19 will see media outlets return to business as usual. Indeed, some companies won’t survive the pandemic. Many others are likely to emerge in a shaken state, plagued by compressed newsrooms, a workforce rife with mental health challenges and governments eager to capitalize on any weakness.
It is a highly precarious time for journalism as we’ve known it, but one that also offers opportunities.

Will journalists emerge from the pandemic battle-hardened or worn down?
Has the long period of working from home helped or harmed the value of traditional newsrooms?

What is sacrificed when journalists can’t be at the scene of an event, and what workarounds are acceptable?
Will governments continue to restrict media access to political leaders?
What effect will the pandemic have on efforts to make news organizations more diverse, and on the rise of independent journalism?

Panelists:

Charmaine de Silva – News Director of NEWS 1130 and CityNews Vancouver, one of Canada’s largest local newsrooms. She is a three-time National RTDNA award-winner, and last year received an Edward R. Murrow Regional Award for a series on why Pride still matters. A brown-skinned lesbian millennial, Charmaine takes pride in being an atypical newsroom boss, passionate about fostering a truly diverse and inclusive culture and challenging norms in media.

Mark Iype– The Managing Editor at Global Edmonton with a decade of experience overseeing various newsrooms in both print and broadcast environments. Prior to joining Global, he has held senior management roles at the Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun and the Telegraph-Journal in New Brunswick.

April Lindgren – The Velma Rogers Research Chair and principal investigator for the Local News Research Project at Ryerson’s School of Journalism. Her research focuses on local news poverty, where local media are not addressing the critical information needs of communities. She spearheaded creation of the crowd-sourced Local News Map, which tracks changes to local news ecosystems. Before joining Ryerson, Lindgren spent two decades reporting on Parliament Hill and at Queen’s Park in Toronto.

Moderator:

Kristen Hare – A reporter for the Poynter Institute who covers the transformation of local news and writes feature obits for the Tampa Bay Times. She is a graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, spent five years as the Sunday features writer and an assistant editor at the Saint Joseph (Missouri) News-Press, and five years as a staff writer covering race, immigration, and aging at the St. Louis Beacon. She also spent two years with the Peace Corps in Guyana, South America.