Today’s journalist and reporters are forced to consider the dangers of the Covid-19 pandemic. The coronavirus is transmitted via droplets expelled when speaking, coughing, laughing, singing, and sneezing. These droplets are estimated to travel as far as several feet depending on the body function:

  1. When speaking droplets can travel 1 to 3 feet
  2. With a cough, droplets can reach 1 to 5 feet
  3. Sneezing forces droplets out to a length of 8 to 15 feet
  4. Singing sends droplets from your mouth at a reach of 1 to 3 feet
  5. Breathing with your mouth open produces droplets that travel up to 1 to 3 feet
  6. Diarrhea is yet another body fluid expulsion. These droplets can travel over 5 feet.]
  7. Every one of these forms of expulsion has the potential of generating droplet nuclei that can travel as much or more than 160 feet.

To conduct safe communications and to interview subjects, social distance reporting is mandatory. This protects both the reporter and the interviewed person or persons. While wearing a mask does protect the speaker, it is less effective if its only made of one or two layers of cloth and the party being interviewed or the reporter is positive for Covid-19. Only the N-95 mask and a shield can protect a reporter or the interviewed sufficiently from someone with coronavirus.

The best way for reporters to conduct an interview in the pandemic is to stand or sit socially distant from the person interviewed. That means having at least 6 feet between parties. This should be the standard both indoors and outdoors, even when also wearing a mask.

An even more effective form of socially distant reporting is when the reporter can interview someone virtually. Computer and cell phone cameras plus the internet make it possible for reporters and their subjects to communicate in real time. Today’s news programs had to resort to this form of reporting as the coronavirus progressed.

While many problems result from depending on an internet connection, the overall result is smooth interactions despite some loss of sound and delay in communications when communicating with someone over thousands of miles.

Social distance reporting provides the greatest protection to all the parties involved. While observing reporters on television, it has been noticed that reporters have stood far more than just 6 feet away from the interviewed party. The primary goal is to see and hear the person you are communicating with and communication is still quite possible with that small a distance between parties.