When the Media Cries Wolf

Yesterday I turned to my friend and asked, with only a hint of irony, “So are we assholes now?”

We had, several days earlier, mocked the undue attention and hype swine flu was receiving from the major news networks, which was causing irrational responses even at our university. As my friends majoring in human biology were kind enough to enlighten me – the metric ton of anti-bacterial distributed around campus would do diddly-squat against the swine flu virus. It seemed fairly obvious that this was yet another example of the 24-hour news networks embellishing a small story to fill time and draw in viewers  (now unduly concerned for their children’s well-being). To see some healthy satire of the media’s most absurd swine flu coverage moments, check out some of this past week’s Daily Show and Colbert Report episodes.

Having now read measured news coverage from print journalism (this New York Times article being my first indication), which notes the small numbers of outbreaks but also the serious attention governments and the health community are giving the potential pandemic, I realize the situation merits some coverage and concern. But how was I to know? The media has cried wolf too many times, ranging from moderately sensationalized kidnappings to the utter absurdity of Glenn Beck’s thinking through of “Worst-Case Scenarios” in his deranged “War Room.”

So in solidarity with the townspeople, hearing once more from the mountains a boy’s voice crying out for help, I ask you to, in a complete lack of seriousness, learn more about swine flu at http://doihaveswineflu.org/.