THIMPU, Jan 12 (NNN-Kuensel) –The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the way journalists gather information, especially during the lockdown when everyone is mandated to stay indoors.
Many media professionals rely on social media and the internet to gather information.
A freelance journalist, Karma Wangdi, said that social media was a platform that provided story ideas. “Journalists can verify and work on issues that are posted on social media platforms.”
According to a journalist working in a private media, she was able to work during the pandemic, as she could gather information from social media.
She said going to the field and meeting with sources give in-depth understanding of the issue but during the pandemic, she conducted interviews on phone and via Zoom, Whatsapp and Messenger. “I picked up ideas from Facebook.”
She could also attended virtual conferences and webinars on social media platforms.
A broadcast journalist said that people share different views on issues and opinion on social media.
“Without field visits, I was able to pick story ideas from social media platforms,” he said.
According to an online data portal, DataReportal, there were 430,000 social media users in the country last year.
As of September 2020, there were 681,239 subscribers of 4G and 3G internet services in the country, according to the information and communications ministry’s quarterly statistics.
— NNN-KUENSEL
