Podcast

Podcast: Local media and COVID-19—the canary in the coal mine

March 12, 2020
 

When an outbreak like the covid-19 pandemic hits, local journalists serve as first responders for global surveillance efforts. Elisabeth Rosenthal was a young physician when the aids epidemic hit New York City; she later covered the sars crisis in China for the New York Times. Samantha Pak is senior editor at the Kirkland Reporter, the local paper covering the Life Care Center nursing home, where nineteen residents have died from the coronavirus. 

On this week’s Kicker, Rosenthal, who is editor in chief of Kaiser Health News, and Pak speak with Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR, about the advantage of the local news template and what happens when we substitute politics for science.

SHOW NOTES

MSNBC public editor: Chris Hayes on how to cover COVID-19 responsibly, Maria Bustillos, CJR

How the coronavirus could limit shoe-leather reporting, Jon Allsop, CJR

Pandemic in the right-wing mediasphere, Jon Allsop, CJR

Amanda Darrach is a contributor to CJR and a visiting scholar at the University of St Andrews School of International Relations. Follow her on Twitter @thedarrach.