Pulitzer Interview: Covering COVID-19

As she wound down a frenzied workweek spent delivering an article on the coronavirus to editors at The New Republic, and having published coronavirus op-eds in The Lancet and Foreign Policy, author and journalist Laurie Garrett was pondering whether to join a chorus of TV analysts on the pandemic.

“I told CNN I wouldn’t appear on there anymore unless they would answer my questions about [COVID-19] transmission in their newsroom … They use the same brushes and lipsticks and [make-up artist] hands on everybody,” said Garrett, describing what’s happened behind the scenes when she’s previously discussed infectious disease on that network.