MPR News reporters reflect on covering a pandemic

A health care worker gets vaccinated for COVID-19.
A small group of doctors, nurses and local reporters watched Dr. Ramy Abdelfattah and five other front-line workers at the Sanford hospital in Bemidji, Minn., get doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Dec. 17.
John Enger | MPR News file

Many audio journalists added a new tool to their reporting kits this year: a boom pole, a telescopic pole that extends microphones and accommodates social distancing.

It’s one of the many ways MPR News journalists adapted to covering the news during a pandemic. 

The pandemic was the context for which Minnesota journalists covered two other major news stories in 2020: the police killing of George Floyd and its aftermath and the presidential election.

How did journalists continue interviewing people, reporting on government and institutions and capturing images while keeping a safe distance? 

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Guest host and reporter Brandt Williams reflects with several of his colleagues on how they covered the news during a pandemic and what 2021 might bring.

Guests: 

Use the audio player above to listen to the program.

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