Working Through the Guilt of Not Covering This Pandemic

When news breaks, I am called to perform, inform, report, write. But it’s an itch I’m hardly scratching.

I’m no longer part of a newsroom, but loved ones (and friends of friends) have been coming to me with pandemic needs and questions and requests for coverage. A nurse with an aging, immunocompromised father at home; medical students and vacationers stranded abroad as borders close; patients with symptoms unable to get tested.

It’s understandable, especially if I’m the only acquaintance they know with any connection at all to a megaphone. I don’t know how to tell them there’s little I can do aside from a message or email to staff reporters in the middle of it all. I’ve pitched a few commissioned covid-19 stories here and there, but editor responses have been delayed and outlets are repeatedly telling me frankly yet kindly: “We have so many staff writers covering coronavirus that we wouldn’t be able to commission this freelance piece. I hope you find a good publication home for it.”

Last week, I reached out to a few editors at my former paper to let them know I’m here and able to cover stories and help with whatever they need — but at a cost, of course. This is my living; I will need to be paid for my work. They’re keeping me in…