There have been some rumors that there might be a 14-day national quarantine. While those rumors have been denied by the National Security Council, we’ve already seen restrictions and closures imposed by various levels of government in the interest of public health.
Given the uncertainty of how such measures might be enforced, the Wisconsin Newspaper Association has proactively reached out to the Governor’s office to emphasize that it’s critical the news media be classified as an “essential business” during any orders from the state to reduce contact between members of the public in an effort to mitigate the virus.
» Read WNA’s letter to the governor
Industry partners also remain proactive in advocating for the determination of newspapers as “essential” during a pandemic.
- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday sent a letter to President Trump requesting that news publishers and news delivery services — along with other vital businesses like pharmacies, grocery stores, mail delivery, etc. — be considered “essential” during this ongoing public health crisis. The Chamber asked the administration to provide guidance to state and local governments issuing shelter-in-place or other virus reduction orders to include these businesses as “essential” and allow them to continue operation, provided they take safety precautions. Read the letter here.
- The News Media Alliance is also pushing for newspapers and other news organizations to be deemed essential. They’ve also provided several sample letters from various news outlets sent to units of government about continued operations during the pandemic.
