MediaVigil, Journal of Global Communications and Justice

authored by K. Nidhi The distress migration which is underway due to draconian lockdown in response to COVID-19 crisis is an opportunity to bring the adverse realities of migration and migrants’ lives at the centre stage in the public discourse. For long their existence and plight have been on the periphery. Migrants can be classified into two major categories- 1. Permanent/semi-permanent and 2. Seasonal/circular/temporary migration. The circular/seasonal/ temporary migrants are more vulnerable in the pandemic-driven migration. It is essentially a case of forced migration.  Their vulnerability is multi-dimensional in nature. The major reasons of their vulnerability include: 1. Occupational vulnerability- Majority of the circular migrants are engaged in informal sector-out of which a major chunk is of daily wage workers. Unmindful of the 3-D jobs-Difficult, Dangerous and Demeaning they do for their livelihood, the migrant woekers have been excluded from social security be...

authored by Neeta R. Torne When a broken needy man was anticipating his next stomachful meal, when the filthy rich were planning their next vacation abroad, the forces of nature had something very different for them in store, an unseen, silent, impending disaster was awaiting and life was about to take a three sixty degree turn. When the world got engulfed in a global pandemic, people across the world got confined to their homes. This seemingly unending holiday became an overwhelming curse on mental and physical well being of humans. While the national and international news channels are reporting and covering cities around the world, providing an idea of how life has changed for the worse, I am going to tell you about the land that I call my home, a small but vibrant Goa. When the nation-wide lockdown was imposed in India, Goa appeared relatively safer with no Covid-19 cases detected. Later, the situation changed. Immediately after the annoucement, the fear of running out of e...

authored by Vagisha  To find an allegory for the experience that the COVID-19 pandemic brought into my life, would be one of the most difficult literary hunts. Was it like the remains of a beautiful house crumbling with its weight, and breaking our backs? Yes! Was it like a mighty angry river swaying to the wilderness the very essence of our life? Indeed! I recall the beginning of this catastrophe. Our offices supplied us with masks and sanitizers. On 22nd March, we were all given work from home permits. We brought our systems home with us.  On the way, my cab driver expressed his glee saying how happy he was at the prospect of being paid in cash as the travel companies pay only once in two weeks, and all of them have cash crunch due to lack of customers. That was my first interface with the cruelty that this disease was to bestow generously upon the lives of the poor. I came home, and we went for ration buying like everyone else did! I had shifted to the new ...

authored by A.Selvakumar  and W. Hamilton Jacob As far as the issue of COVID-19 is concerned, it is nothing but a threat that has caused a very "panic-stricken" situation in people's lives. It evidently causes people to feel a complete isolation even amidst their own families relatives and neighbours. They feel as if they have been imprisoned in there own homes. We are residents of Thalamuthu Nagar and Korampallam in Thoothukudi district,Tamilnadu. The people around our surrounding are facing corona related issues in difficult circumstances. The people of in our area are worried about their livelihoods more than the worry of corona virus which brings about a physical death, which they are not afraid of. COVID-19 makes almost everyone an accused person and a suspect person in the society.We have lost not only our livelihood, but also our complete liberty in all aspects. Some incidents narrated below provides a glimpse of the plight of the poor people in particular...

After the disclosure by German media, ZEE Group's WION channel has removed the misleading story it broadcasted and published.  Responding to a query from Telepolis on April 28, Christoph Jumpelt from Germany's state media Deutsche Welle (DW)'s Press Department revealed:  "There is no formal partnership with the WION broadcaster.  We are currently serving requests from a wide range of broadcasters worldwide who want to include a European watchdog for their pandemic coverage. So far there has been a switching conversation with a DW reporter on the WION news program. The channel's publication of a partnership with DW is misleading. We have already asked for clarification.“ This German news story by Gilbert Kolonko sets the record straight: https://www.heise.de/tp/features/Hindu-Nationalisten-versuchen-auch-die-Deutsche-Welle-zu-instrumentalisieren-4713357.html This twitter handle of Telepolis News corroborates it: https://twitter.com/telepolis_news?...