Communication Ecology during Pandemic COVID-19: Challenges and their Mitigation of Journalists from Gilgit Baltistan

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has wracked the globe with fear and confusion and posed great threats to health system all over the world. A wave of misinformation, rumours, fakes news and hoaxes have also flooded through various media platforms, creating fear and confusion in general public. Global communication was drastically altered by the COVID-19 epidemic, which presented journalists with hitherto unheard-of difficulties, especially in isolated and underdeveloped areas like Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan. The misinformation about COVID-19 makes vulnerable people of rural and remote communities like Gilgit-Baltisatn even more vulnerable due to poor healthcare facilities and less or no reliable information about precautionary measures owing to poor internet connectivity and electronic media coverage. With an emphasis on how journalists in Gilgit-Baltistan managed the disturbed information landscape, this study investigates the idea of communication ecology during the pandemic. During disasters and health emergencies, local journalists play a vital role in communicating to general public regarding emergency situation, so this study will evaluate perception of local journalists in Gilgit-Baltistan regarding reporting practices adopted during Pandemic COVID-19 and how they conceptualize and covers news about corona virus and face challenges in reporting and covering health emergency. The study highlights the main obstacles that journalists must overcome, such as a lack of trustworthy information, inadequate internet infrastructure, governmental regulations, and psychological strain. Furthermore this study aims to examine the mitigation of challenges which local journalists from Gilgit Baltistan has been faced during pandemic.

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