In an attempt to raise awareness among the general public regarding the usage of face masks to combat the spread of Covid2019, Asianet News anchors have been using face masks while on air over the past few days. The move by Asianet is now receiving positive responses from all corners, as this is for the first time in Indian television that all the news anchors in a channel are appearing on screen with their masks on. The channel is also giving masks to guests who are attending the news shows without a face mask. Following Asianet’s lead, a few other Malayalam news channels are also planning to make their news hosts wear masks when they go live.
Talking about the challenges of wearing face masks while news reading, Asianet News Chief Mr. Radhakrishnan said, “We pretty much know that news reading is all about communicating with the general public. Some people told me that communication is not effective when news anchors are wearing masks. However, we have a bigger message to convey, especially at this time of pandemic, and I believe we have succeeded in our attempt.” Radhakrishnan also underscored the necessity of giving journalists the status of frontline workers who should get priority in the vaccination rollout program.
