Journalism has proven to be of exceptional importance in the coronavirus epidemic and it has shown the importance of timely and accurate information, it was said at a round table discussion, held as part of the 6th PRESS Film Festival in Zagreb on Friday.

“Journalism has proven to be of exceptional importance in the current crisis, it has shown the importance of timely and accurate information given that we are being bombarded on a daily basis with numerous conspiracy theories,” Croatian Journalists Association (HND) president Hrvoje Zovko said.

Speaking at the panel, dedicated to media in global crises, journalist Hrvoje Simicevic expressed confidence that media worldwide would not have it easy in the financial crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which, he said, had sped up the decline of a large part of the traditional media sector.

Freelance reporters most affected group

Quoting the findings of a survey, Simicevic said that 80% of freelance reporters had been left without key income following the introduction of restrictions designed to fight the coronavirus.

Journalist Kresimir Zupcic said the survey, conducted by the HND and the Journalists Union, showed that 28.7% of external contractors in the media sector had been left without all of their assignments since the start of the crisis, 26.2% had lost most of their jobs and 15.9% had lost half of their previous jobs.

That means that around two-thirds of freelancers had been left without any, most or half of their jobs since the start of the COVID-19 crisis. It is alarming that one in three freelancers have been left without any income and only 14% have managed to keep most of their previous assignments, said Zupcic.

The PRESS Film Festival, which is usually held in Hrvatska Kostajnica, is organised by the HND and the EKS nongovernmental organisation. The festival, which lasts until September 13, is taking place at the HND offices in Zagreb.

The festival selector is film director Daniel Pavlic.