It's no secret that I hate the American media. They pushed the idea that Y2K would cause all computers to fail except those controlling nuclear weapons, which would launch those weapons. After the terrorist attack of 9/11 in 2001, they insisted for years that an even larger unplanned terrorist attack was imminent. They warned us that we should all fear unexpected mail because a handful of people were targeted with anthrax. They pushed a Mayan doomsday prophecy that they couldn't prove existed just because the Mayan calendar, which is still going, was supposedly coming to an end.
The American media loves fear mongering. It's good for their ratings. Another good example of this was H1N1, the swine flu. Everybody was in a panic over the latest variant of the flu, but this variant turned out to be nothing special. Near the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, I watched as the media tried to scare us by comparing the novel coronavirus with H1N1. Even medical professionals criticized the media's overblown portrayal of H1N1. Of course, we now know that COVID-19 was quite a bit worse.
I had problems with the media's portrayal of the pandemic from the very beginning. The media was clearly up to its usual stunts, and there was plenty of reason for skepticism. With the media's history, why should I take them seriously?
Fearmongering was definitely part of the problem. Once the virus was confirmed to be in the country, this was all they could talk about. I remember reading about some nasty tornadoes elsewhere in the country and struggling to find information. They were treating the pandemic like the end of the world. Even during a pandemic, there's more going on than just a virus. If less than 10% of the population died with the precautions taken, it was overblown. Heck, if less than 50% died with us doing absolutely nothing, it would have been overblown. That's how far over the top the media handled the pandemic.
Let's not forget about how the media handled the coronavirus before it was confirmed in the United States. It was big news every single time it was reported that someone was tested for it. This isn't too surprising for our media. They were eagerly waiting to break the story of the first confirmed case. They wanted the coronavirus in our country, and they wanted it to be a big story. They were cheerleading the virus from the very beginning.
The media loves the ratings that can get if they can scare people into watching. In this case, the media had another reason to cheerlead. They wanted Donald Trump out of office and blaming him for a pandemic could really help influence the election outcome. The media heavily politicized the pandemic. They had people calling it the Trump pandemic. Trump was frequently taken out of context. When Democrats defied guidelines, such as Biden and Sanders defying social distancing by bumping elbows, the media was silent.
No, Trump did not call the coronavirus a hoax. No, he did not suggest that people inject themselves with bleach. Trump made a lot of mistakes, particularly by downplaying the severity of the pandemic, but the dishonest politicization if the virus made him look even worse.
The media mishandled the coronavirus from the very beginning, especially with their fearmongering, cheerleading, and politicizing. They weren't alone. Serious mistakes were made at every level. While today's rant is targeting the low-hanging fruit, I'm not even close to done venting. Expect more posts in the future dedicated to releasing steam caused not by the pandemic, but by the response we made to address the pandemic.
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