Being a Journalist During a "Very Difficult Time"

Essentials? Or not essentials

That is just one of the questions we're debating about at a time when the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic is still forcing everyone to stay at home. And in these trying times, only those working in essential industries are allowed to go out. Are journalists among those?

They should be.

In the words of Migs Bustos on Monday's episode of Kick-Start Coffee Brewed Awakening, "Journalists are perhaps some of the most underappreciated frontliners in this time of a pandemic,"

Another renowned journalist in Christian Esguerra of ABS CBN News Channel guested on Monday's episode. Esguerra shared the difficulties a journalist is facing daily because of the health crisis.

"This has been a very difficult time as far as journalism is concerned not just because of the physical interactions that have been limited by the pandemic. We are all under community quarantine. So basically, we cannot meet our sources personally like we used to," he began.

"That in itself has affected the flow of information," he continued.

But more than being hampered by the restrictions brought about by the pandemic, the Duterte administration, particularly President Rodrigo Duterte, in the words of Esguerra, is a bigger challenge for the members of the media. "The bigger challenge, as we all know, as far as journalism is concerned, at this time in the Philippines is not just the pandemic. It's more of the administration. It's more of the president because of what he has been doing against media, against a few press since he came into power in 2016,"

Esguerra also revealed the challenges members of the media face in terms of doing interviews as face-to-face contacts are limited.

"It's more challenging because, for instance, if you want to conduct an interview with someone, let's say the source, it's important to deal with him directly in person so that you can analyze the behavior, the expression. It's easier to converse with. There will be more opportunities to scrutinize the details coming from that person if you come face to face with him,"

He added, "Sometimes, journalists really need to go by what was not said instead of what was said during interviews. Sometimes, what was not said or the way how it was said was more meaningful than the information. So, these are the things that have been taken away because we are only limited to online interviews. The handicap is there. The limitation is there,"

"In that case, I guess we just need to work much harder to be able to perform a task that we are supposed to do during the pandemic," Esguerra concluded.

Screenshot is from the Kick-Start Coffee Brewed Awakening Facebook page