Biden: “I ain’t gettin’ on no airplane, or subway, Hannibal.”
I have to speak up on the media’s coverage in general of the swine flu apparently sweeping the globe…and in the interest of full disclosure before I even start, I am a member of the media here in Springfield.
By now you all know the main story going out across national and local news outlets is the swine flu outbreak. Apparently it originated in Mexico and has spread rapidly to many other portions of the world, including many states here in our nation.
Many businesses, universities and public institutions have made the choice to postpone activities because of fear the outbreak could spread. Texas and Alabama have both postponed all high school sports activities until mid-May as a precaution as well.
Night by night, turn on the evening news — read the front page of our newspaper today, in fact — and you’ll see swine flu, swine flu, swine flu being reported at every turn.
Let me offer a little perspective on this.
The World Health Organization this morning reports 331 official cases (not deaths) of the H1N1 strain of influenza. 331 cases, and last time I checked, the world population stood at well over six billion.
(Just a few days ago, the official number of deaths in Mexico stood at 7, not 150 as widely reported by the AP and many other media sources.)
In comparison, just here in the U.S. alone, the “regular” strain of influenza has killed 13,000 people since the beginning of January. In the world, a quarter billion people have been claimed as a result of a sickness that continues to cycle every year.
Now back to focusing on the media here: which have you, the public, heard being reported? “Normal” strains of influenza being one of the most deadly diseases, or the new strain that has been proven to be relatively mild but for some reason pople are taking unprecedented precautions over?
It is well known that many people trust the media as their de facto source of news. TV stations, newspapers, even Internet news services know this full well and will do everything in their power to grab even more viewers or readers. The reason for that is two-fold: to beat out the competition, and to turn a profit.
Here comes along a story about the swine flu epidemic, something that will instantly grab the public’s attention and concern because it deals with the public’s safety and well-being. The more people that want to find out about this, the more people turn on the news, read the newspaper, or check the Web. Page views skyrocket, Nielsen ratings increase, newsstands begin to empty.
There is no doubt the swine flu epidemic story is good for business…but I worry that it comes at a major cost. With the facts that were presented above being largely ignored by the media as a whole, there is a fine line being toed between simply informing the public and playing on the public’s fears almost as a scare tactic to whip up a frenzied reaction.
It is a reporter’s responsibility to strive for fairness and accuracy in all they present to the public in their official capacity. When a reporter tells the public that the swine flu epidemic is sweeping the nation and tells about some rather dire precautions many organizations are taking — yet FAILS to mention the WHO’s official count of swine flu deaths — their perspective is skewed and to an informed public, it smacks of fearmongering.
Playing on the fears of the public is not the right way to go about business and although I cannot speak for any news organization, I have honestly wondered how the public perceives the mass media’s attempt to spread whatever information they so choose about the swine flu.
May I urge everyone to please continue to look to the media as a source of news and information, but please don’t stop there. It is acceptable to question what is reported and in this age where information is more readily available in a larger variety of sources than it ever has been before, we must all dig deeper.
For myself, as a Christian, I must look to the Bible. 2 Timothy 1:7 says it all for me.
For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
That verse pretty well sums it up, in my opinion.
Penny for your thoughts, in the comments section.
Biden’s comments may not have been an accident. Infact, it could be a way to keep the fear at a high level in order to push a hidden agenda. Can anyone say socialized medicine? I think that’s the story that comes out in the end.
Good point, Rich. At this point one has to consider ALL possibilities.
By the way you need to do weekly updates on different hot sauces that you enjoy from different local restaurants. I enjoyed that so much, that I just had to add you to my blog as a must see site. Thanks for the laughs!
Wow, what a Bible verse. It almost makes we want to throw my TV out the door, because it’s almost as if the news is causing that fear in people. I guess it’s good to know the facts about the flu, but we shouldn’t become consumed with it if we truly believe the Bible.
I think Psalm 91 is a great chapter to consider, too.
It’s certainly a good story, and I agree some perspective is needed. I know as many people with HIV as have died from the swine flu in this country.
But, Rich, if this is all a conspiracy to get us on socialized medicine, it’s a pretty bad sell. Biden aside, the government is being calm about this, especially in contrast to the way the Bush administration exploited citizens’ fears. It’s the media who ran away with this. And even then, the facts are there for people to realize how overstated this threat really is.
I have not watched television news in over a year. If I want to see a story, I can be selective and choose what I want to see and hear on the news organization’s website. If I don’t want to listen to a particular reporter, or see a story headline that suggests a particular slant, I can just skip it.
The fact that the media is running away with the story shows how desperate TV, newspaper and internet media is to exploit people’s personal concerns to simply make money in the current economy…and that’s just not right.
Ian,
Let’s not forget the media’s love for our newly elected president, and how their push, backed by big business (not to mention names, ehm … GE) got him and his loosly lipped VP elected. Say what you want with your one sided democratic views, but when you have to wait 4 months for your next doctor appointment, just remeber my words… I told you so. What the world needs now is leadership, and fear mongering by Bush or the current administration.
(continued) is not the way to go.
It’s fun to hear conservatives’ sudden concern over unchecked leadership, bought and paid for by corporate interests and who exploit peoples’ fears to enact an Orwellian agenda. Project much?
Sorry, but lumping Bush and Obama together doesn’t work. They have to have something in common first. Obama earned much of his campaign support in small contributions – indicating a stronger grass-roots effort than you typically see in these elections – precisely because Bush was such an arrogant, incompetent stooge.
I did not intend for this to degenerate into a political discussion, but I feel I must address something here.
As long as the “other” party is in power, people of whatever political nature will be given reason to complain and fuss. That’s how it’s always gone.
Bush 41 and Reagan era Republicans complained when Clinton took the WH. Democrats complained when Bush 43 took the WH. Republicans complain as Barack Obama sits in power currently.
I could myself lump Obama and Bush together easily. Both Presidents want your money, they want to expand government and they don’t have the interest of the common man at heart. But wait, that’s also been the case during each sitting President for the past thirty years at least.
Politics is a game no one can win.
Oh wait, I know how we can finish this.
Big government (Obama & Bush, not to tie them together) is bad for the economy, and we all agree on that? yes, no . . . maybe?
Poor Joe Biden, he’s the democratic party’s village idiot. I kinda feel sorry for him.
As long as we’re at it, why not just say they also both have two eyes and both have wives? As long as we’re making sweeping generalizations that avoid any real discussion of specific issues…
I agree this thread has devolved a bit, but I just want to reassert that my political views are not knee-jerk to who is in office. It may appear that way because you think Obama and Bush are clones, and thus I must be defending Obama for what I despised in Bush just because he’s my guy. Frankly, I find that insulting. You guys seem to imply that there’s someone better out there who could bring lasting change and by doing it in a way that’s neither liberal or conservative. Who? And what?
Ian, please stop playing the victim simply because we have pointed out the hypocrisy running rampant in Washington. There is nothing new under the sun, let’s all realize that.
I find it equally, if not more insulting, that someone who dares to think out of the box is labeled as a fringe lunatic with no political base or vision simply because they don’t subscribe to the accepted belief system.
That is in the agenda of the current administration in Washington: use bully tactics to intimidate those who don’t agree with you. Since they have all the power they may as well use it in whatever way they possibly can.
Oh wait, that was the M.O. for the last administration too. You called that out repeatedly, but funny thing that you don’t see it the people you so ardently support, Ian.
Hypocrisy much?
As to who can bring about change and what they can bring about, for God’s sake we’re at least trying to make a genuine effort to find out. That’s more than can be said for anyone who subscribes to the same rhetoric and bile fed to them by the current bureaucrats in power from both parties.
I am all for being civil in these discussions but I get sick and tired of people needlessly playing the victim. Let’s be intelligent about this.
Government sucks. Period. George Washington stated emphatically, “Minimal Government,” and, “Avoid foreign entanglements.” We fail at both of these.
We fought the British to abolish government control. And big government, no matter what party, is the enemy to common man. PERIOD.
Chris, you’re dead on. The Bush Admin. used bully tactics, Obama is doing the same with a complicit media for the most part. It’s same old, same old down Washington way.
It’s very, very easy to denounce every politician and the entire political system of the United States as irrevocably screwed. But to do that and offer no viable alternative is pointless.
Solutions to our problems don’t come from people standing on the sidelines and clucking their tongues at those who have the nerve to believe in the people they elect. You know, I have a lot of problems with government as well. I don’t agree with every Obama does or Biden says. But I’m not going to lump them with Bush-Cheney or all other politicians over some abstract concept like “power.” That’s what they exert. That’s what we elect them to do, like it or not. And no one can tell me with a straight face that some third-party leader wouldn’t do exactly the same thing.
A viable alternative takes time to come up with. A viable alternative takes a true grass roots effort of people who are fed up enough with the two party system to take a hard look at the issues that our nation faces, put their heads together and figure out how they would tackle the problem head-on if they were in Washington.
Unfortunately they probably won’t be given that chance as they’ve all been labeled a bunch of right-wing extremists by the DHS and the MIAC here in our own state.
Also Ian you are getting exactly what you wanted, a flame war on my stomping grounds. I kindly ask that you stop writing off my viewpoints (it IS my site, after all) and those who agree with them.
We all have opinions and no one is going to change anyone’s mind so let’s let this thread that has strayed horribly off topic die right here.
Wow … take a day off and there’s blood everywhere. I’m proud of you two.
Okay, here it is in a nutshell. With BUSH, we took our eye off the ball and let him do as pleased as long as he protected us. We’re all guilty of wanting to be safe. But after time we realized that the safety net, was actually a diversion. So we asked for a change. Enter, OBAMA. Now, I agree that this canidate did have a lot of “grass root” support. But the change is doing, I’m sorry is not the change his supporters signed up for. So yes, people are mad. They’re upset, because they told Bush, NO MORE SPENDING. Now they see Obama, with a bigger budget, 2/3’s of which is pork spending, and they aren’t going to take it lying down this time.
Ian, I have said before… it’s a shame your guy is in now, because Obama, to me, seems like a cool cat. It’s just bad timing. It’s not a racist thing, and it’s not a political party thing. It is a GLOBAL PROBLEM. Had we minded our business, and done as founding fathers had laid out for us… this mess, well not our problem.
Chris: I can respect your request. But I did not come here to start a flame war. I made a point and was repeatedly, and personally, attacked for it. And there was nothing you accused me of doing that you and everyone else here weren’t also doing. So I’ll leave it at that.
Rich, Ian — I did ask before that this be allowed to die. I do appreciate the dialogue.
Can I just say . . . I love you guys ?
Can’t we all just get along?
Good point, Rich. At this point one has to consider ALL possibilities.