Well, it appears that the latest hyper-reaction to current events is quieting down somewhat, and it looks like we just might survive another onslaught of deadly disease that was supposed to wipe out a significant percentage of the population.
I think the press and television media are as responsible for the swine flu panic as anyone (or anything) else. With almost wall-to-wall coverage in the news, it’s no wonder people are scared to death to send their kids to school or be anywhere near somebody with the sniffles. And now – guess what? Reports are coming in that it’s not spreading extraordinarily fast, and that even in the apparent epicenter of the illness, schools and businesses are reopening.
I remember the SARS scare a few years back – then, as now, people in Asia donned masks and avoided crowds (as much as one can avoid crowds in places like Tokyo or Beijing). The height of that episode lasted about as long as this one has, and with similar results. A few people died, quite a few were seriously ill, and most recovered.
Of course, it’s sad that people died; however, there are many other diseases that kill people every day. They just don’t have the cachet that something called “SARS” or “swine flu” does. Those names seem to have taken on a life of their own. I remember a former co-worker who would jokingly exclaim, “It’s SARS!!!” every time he saw someone sniffle, sneeze, or even complain that they didn’t feel well for whatever reason. He probably still says it to this day.
Cartoonists and jokesters around the Internet have had a field day with the swine flu epidemic. I can’t tell you how many funny stories and pig photos I’ve seen passed around in e-mails in the past couple of weeks. I don’t know if this will have as long a humor shelf-life as SARS, but it’s certainly alive and snorting at the moment!
There may well be a pandemic one day that kills a lot of people, and that would be very frightening indeed. I understand and appreciate the fact-based cautionary warnings sent out by the CDC. What I don’t appreciate is the unrelenting media coverage, and the sensationalizing and magnifying of every tiny aspect of the situation.
It seems our national news sources have suddenly turned into paparazzi from the tabloids, chasing frantically after every lurid detail and nuance of the disease, because it’s the celebrity of the day. I guess they’re still suffering the after-effects of the Obama-mania they’ve experienced for the past couple of years – they’ve become hooked on the hype and forgotten what “reporting” should be: factual, rational and informative.
The sky is not falling, Chicken Little – it only has the sniffles.
Yes, I agree with you that the swine flu scare was brought about by the hype that mass media perpetrated. But it is incumbent upon people to use their common sense in reacting to this kind of phenomena. It just don’t make sense to irrationally panic over every media hype. Thanks for the enlightening post. God bless you always.
I agree that people should take a step back and use their common sense, but when they’re bombarded day after day by the media, sometimes common sense takes a back seat. I think people (consciously or subconsciously) figure that if it’s important enough to warrant so much news coverage, it must be a really BIG DEAL, and is a serious threat. So they start behaving like it’s a threat, and before you know it they’re running around mindlessly and shouting, “The sky is falling!”
Thanks for your comment!