…not only do so many people assume, now, that they are being misled; but more than that, the media themselves have lost all confidence in their own ability to give us the facts.
A good quote from a good article on the media and the so-called “swine flu.” Click here to read.
I read the article but didn’t listen to the mp3 FYI.
One problem with the article is that it uses SARS as an example of a threat that didn’t materialize, implying that the fuss surrounding it was overblown. This is the problem with successful public health measures: their goal is prevention, so by definition when they succeed, nothing happens.
Public health measures that succeed become victims of their own success, just like vaccines – obviously we don’t need to vaccinate, no one has polio any more!
The most amazing thing about the current swine flu response is it marks the first time in our history that the global community has been able to organize itself ahead of a pandemic and act to institute prevention measures across the globe. Before this, we have been merely reacting and trying to keep up. The response to swine flu is enormously encouraging and important. It may be responsible for saving many lives. Whether the media has been stupid about it is an attack to level against the media, not against epidemiology.