When breaking news hits, freelancers often find editors at media outlets eager for related stories. But what about when breaking news like a global pandemic becomes virtually the only story being told? What do you do when those same media editors say no thanks to yet more coverage? Freelance Files editor Karen Schaefer went looking for some timely advice.
"How did it come to this? A virus a thousand times smaller than a dust mote has humbled and humiliated the planet’s most powerful nation. America has failed to protect its people, leaving them with illness and financial ruin. It has lost its status as a global leader. It has careened between inaction and ineptitude. The breadth and magnitude of its errors are difficult, in the moment, to truly fathom."
"Federal agencies suggest caution in U.S. bat research to avoid transmitting the novel coronavirus to wildlife."
"In mid-April, hundreds of scientists from around the world were supposed to fly to Ecuador for a five-day meeting about the latest research on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere."
"Companies report billions in losses and decreased value of assets, but still plan to expand oil and gas production going forward. "
"Earlier this month, when the Trump administration told hospitals to send crucial data about coronavirus cases and intensive care capacity to a new online system, it promised the change would be worth it. ... Instead, the public data hub created under the new system is updated erratically and is rife with inconsistencies and errors, data analysts say."
"Floods caused by heavy monsoon rains in two of India’s poorest states have displaced or affected 8 million people and killed 111 since May, authorities said on Tuesday, at a time when coronavirus cases have swelled there.
The Brahmaputra river in the northeastern state of Assam is flowing above the “danger level” in many places, while heavy rains that began this week in Bihar in the east will last until Wednesday, officials say.
"A growing number of National Academy of Science members sign a statement decrying the Trump administration’s 'denigration of scientific expertise.'"
"Senate and House Democrats sent letters to the White House on Friday, asking the Trump administration to reverse its decision to sidestep the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in collecting critical COVID-19 hospital data."
"A new study offers fresh evidence of a connection between dirty air and COVID-19 deaths, while suggesting that a 4-month-old EPA civil enforcement freeze has made the situation worse."
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