Much ado about the flu: Is the media frenzy justified?
By Burt Laws | Monday, May 5, 2009 | AlterNet.org
“…A ‘pandemic’ just means an epidemic that is very widespread. A pandemic can refer to a minor disease. Actually it’s technically correct to say that there is a pandemic of one or more strains of influenza every year, but the WHO doesn’t bother to use that term unless they consider the pathogen to be particularly problematic. In this case, they have issued a pandemic alert because they consider it likely that this novel strain will be transmitted from one person to another in many places around the world. That doesn’t mean anything unusually bad will necessarily happen. It’s just a term of art. They want to be ready.
So the authorities, for the most part, haven’t overreacted. They’ve just done what they are supposed to do. It is possible, but not at all likely, that this virus will cause an unusual amount of trouble….”…BS
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One Response to “Much ado about the flu: Is the media frenzy justified?”
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There is no question that the media’s hyperventilating was overstated. The question becomes one of balance: i.e., had they gone the other direction – minimal coverage, mellow attitude – it might have been even worse. It seems that they just don’t know how to strike the proper balance of concern and moderation.
Part of this, of course, is the media’s insatiable (largely economic) “need” for “hot” news. So relatively “simple” things like flus, weather, etc. become “breaking news” in 24/7 news cycles.
The danger of this is that it can create a “boy cries wolf” syndrome”: when a real “crisis” breaks (particularly re health), people are going to be less apt to believe what they are being told, and this will have truly dire consequences.
Peace.
Posted on 04-May-09 at 8:16 am | Permalink