WHILE MUCH of the world has gone into ‘pause’ mode to curb the spread of coronavirus, most journalists have gone into overdrive as they scramble to cover the biggest story of their lives.

There has also been an explosion of innovation as many publishers have changed rapidly in the face of enormous economic disruption.

UK-based news website Press Gazette, part of NS Media Group, has launched a global survey called Journalism Matters: Excellence in Reporting Coronavirus in an attempt to track and record the best of this media activity.

Press Gazette editor in chief Dominic Ponsford said: “The aim of the project is to highlight the crucial work done by journalists around the world to inform the public about the coronavirus pandemic and help curb the spread of this disease.

“We also wants to provide a way to quickly share best practice so that we can learn lessons about how to weather the storm.”

The process is free to enter and only takes a few minutes.

It is open to those working in the industry and elsewhere to participate in the survey but recommendations will go through to an expert judging panel of independent senior journalists for moderation.

Selected journalism can be from any media sector, anywhere in the world, including: national press, regional press, B2B, broadcast (TV/radio), digital news, magazines and news/picture agencies.

Press Gazette is highlighting great journalism about the coronavirus crisis across eight categories:

• Editorial innovation and product launches
• Investigations
• Exclusive news stories
• Data journalism
• Breaking news/live blogs
• Comment/opinion
• Podcast/radio
• Video/TV

The highlighted work will be profiled in the week starting April 20, 2020 and showcased as the best of the best from this tumultuous period for the news industry and the planet.