Americans want to see what’s happening in hospitals now. But it’s hard for journalists to get inside.

Many health-care workers have also been speaking to reporters without institutional permission — and their candor has informed stories such as The Washington Post’s look at doctors and nurses who fear that they will infect their families and the Wall Street Journal’s report on a lack of supplies in a Bronx hospital where some staffers claimed they were required to work despite showing covid-19 symptoms. (A hospital spokesman denied the claims.)

“Oftentimes, that’s the only way they have to voice their concerns,” said Sally Watkins, executive director of the Washington State Nurses Association. She added that some are risking their jobs by doing this in defiance of hospital managers. The American Medical Association said in a statement that “no employer should restrict physicians’ freedom to advocate for the best interest of their patients.”