The World Association of Press Councils (WAPC) on Wednesday urged press and media councils across the globe to take up through their respective governments and the United Nations, the "serious issue of journalists losing their jobs due to the Covid-19 pandemic".

Dr Sule Aker, the president of the WAPC, the only umbrella organisation of Press/Media Councils in Asia, Europe and Africa, held a conference of member states on Sunday, a statement said.

The conference expressed serious concern over the crisis all media organisations are facing because of the pandemic and its aftermath, it said.

The WAPC, which is recognised by the United Nations, also decided to approach the UN and other UN-affiliated bodies like UNESCO to provide possible support to media practitioners and industry in this moment of unprecedented crisis, it said.

Several journalists have died of the dreaded disease while reporting on the pandemic in different countries and many have contracted the disease from scores of patients since they work in the same environment, Dr Sule said in a statement.

"Some of the journalists have lost their jobs while many others faced salary cuts. Many other coercive measures like forced leave, leave without pay, and reduction of working hours have been taken by the management and owners," the statement said.

At institutional level some newspapers, magazines, periodicals, TV channels, online media and other digital media have stopped publications or operations altogether, it said.

Many other media, including established ones, have stopped or downsized their publications or operations from different places.

Some of them have also truncated their pages and contents because of the loss of revenue during the pandemic which has taken a heavy toll on the media as a whole, it added.

The WAPC appealed to the media house owners and management to try and minimise loss to the practitioners such as employment termination and or cutting their pays.

It also urged governments to intervene immediately and save the media.

The Council also urged all government and media houses to keep the interest of the mediapersons uppermost in their mind and ensure that media personnel are provided with PPE and other equipment to facilitate them working whenever necessary, the statement said.

Dr Sule and Kishor Shrestha, the Secretary General of the WAPC, have written letters to all Press/Media Councils to impress upon their governments to immediately intervene and save the media in this unprecedented pandemic.