Kolkata Press Club issues Safety Guidelines for Media persons
Kolkata,30 March(HS): In a first of this kind of initiative in the country, Press Club, Kolkata today issued a 16 point ’emergency guidelines’ for journalists and other media personnel who are out on the ground to cover news, risking their own lives in vulnerable areas including those in hospitals and in other public places on daily basis.
Issuing these safety guidelines for journalists, photographers and other media persons in the city and all across the state, President Press Club, Kolkata Snehasis Sur and Secretary Kingshuk Pramanik here today said those who were required to move out at the call of their duty at this trying time must take all precautions to remain safe and take every care to ensure that they did not become a part of the process where the deadly virus could spread among others.
Elaborating their 16 points ‘Mantras’ they said ‘first we must remember that we are to cover news and not to become news. We should not be instrumental in spreading this dreaded virus as we not only have a responsibility towards our own selves but also to our families in particular and society in general’.
Referring to other suggestions they urged everybody to wash hands ‘as often as you can with soap and then use the sanitizer. If there is no water, carry wet wipes and then use the sanitizer. Don’t forget to sanitize your mobile phones’.
About the usefulness of distant recording, they said ‘If a VIP is giving a statement, keep a safe distance of at least six feet to record him and tell the dignitaries to conduct digital press conferences’.
Radio and TV Reporters must not touch the microphones and disinfect them on return. All other equipment, especially the camera and tripods must also be disinfected at all times’, they stated further adding the reporters should not use clip-on microphones to avoid physical contacts and instead use directional equipment and hold them from a safe distance.’ No one should also place any equipment on the floor’.
‘On return, everybody should wash clothes in hot water and soak in disinfectant’, Sur and Pramanik said and suggested everybody keep one pair of outdoor shoes ‘that you remove at your door when you get home and regularly clean all personal belongings like a purse, comb, key chain, notebook and pen.
In addition, separate guidelines were provided to the media men about how to use public transport, what to eat, how to use a mask and maintain hygiene in the workplace and put more emphasis on Work from home besides what to do in case someone developed the symptoms of COVID-19 while on duty or even at home.
The Press Club President also requested everybody to spread these message even among those who are not the members of the fourth pillar of democracy so that everyone remained safe and sound even in the midst of this pandemic situation.
