Journalism During a Global Pandemic

The most annoying part about being a child is hearing about all the old stories from family members about what life was like in their day. You sit there and try your best to listen and seem intrigued, but in reality, you just want to return to the current world. However, today’s current world has been flipped upside down in the past two months…

With Covid-19 spreading extremely fast and killing millions of people, countries all around the world have tried their best to adapt to this unprecedented situation. With schools closed down, businesses not running, and the same news every day, it can be very hard for people to continue to work and make money. Luckily for journalists, they are still able to connect to the population and help them during this historic time.

I attended an online event on April 30 called Journalism During a Global Pandemic with Professor Christopher Vaccaro. As a journalism student, this definitely made me feel more comfortable in the world we are living in right now. Professor Vaccaro currently serves as vice president of Digital News for Altice USA and has been staying involved in the media world during this pandemic.

Something I took away from this webinar was Vaccaro’s confidence in journalists being able to continue their success even while being forced to work from the safety of their home. “As reporters and journalists, it is most important to continue to produce and keep connections with your viewers.” He encouraged his audience to do the best they can to persevere through this and continue to work via webinars and other media outlets such as the one he was conducting this meeting on.

Another takeaway I found from being a member of his seminar was his positivity for the future. Although the world is scary right now, mostly for people who need to work in the future, Vaccaro says this time in quarantine can be beneficial if you use this time the right way. “Use the time you have right now to better yourself and continue working on your craft.”

I found his words extremely inspiring because during this time, I have been trying to work on my craft from home like he said. I created my own sports podcast and blog since last month and have been continuing work with WRHU from home. As journalists, it is our responsibility to be there for the people and entertain/inform them, even in a time of crisis. Vaccaro believes in continuing doing this in any way you can, from home or a safe distance, to continue producing in the world of media.

I would like to thank Professor Vaccaro for conducting this webinar and allowing us to all feel more comfortable and less stressed during this time. Seeing someone who is successful in the world of media such as Vaccaro and learning from him about adapting to this pandemic is something I will remember as quarantine continues. So to tie this all up, when my children ask what life was like while I was in college and the world was battling a deadly pandemic, I will tell them that instead of becoming lazy and unmotivated, I worked hard from home continuing to produce for Hofstra as well as my own personal growth.