This is what Dr Margaret Chan said the other day at the WHO:
"Above all this is an opportunity for global solidarity as we look for responses and solutions that benefit all countries, all of humanity. After all it really is all of humanity that is under threat during a pandemic. The international community should treat this as a window of opportunity to ramp up preparedness and response."
The obvious headline for this was Humanity at risk: WHO
Now it didn't register that I didn't see this headline in the US. Not until some folks at another site started going over how irresponsible the Observer in the UK was for using that headline. So I started looking at media. In the US I fond no instances, and I might not have dug far enough. But it took me three seconds to find this headline in the UK, in Canada, in Mexico and other places south
So I started going, what does this mean?
Well the first thing it means is that we can put a stake in the heart of they want to cause a panic meme. If they did, that was a perfect headline.
But there is more, and this is what is profoundly wrong with the US media and the US Media consumer. The US media needs eyes on screen. Yes it is that simple, ratings translate to add space. So they really do not want you so scared that you will quiver in the corner and stop watching, alas why they didn't use a headline guaranteed to cause panic in the US.
Why?
We are used to the bumper sticker headlines and many folks do not read beyond that. But the media is also doing what will sell add space. Information is incidental to the process. So if you and me (and the rest of the media consumers) started demanding in depth coverage, and that is what it took to keep your eyes on screen, they'd change the format in a flash. If they could get away with it, and nekkid news bunnies raised the ratings, they'd do that too.
So the problem is not just them, but us. We are not sophisticated enough to realize we are getting crap.
Then again, perhaps we are. And the papers are partially dying because of that. One has to wonder if the TEEVEE machine is next?
But what is true is that I have been following this in the foreign press (and MSNBC in the background that actually has done a fair job, to good job) and I can tell you one thing... the depth of coverage I have read abroad compared to what is going on here is shocking. I mean they cover stupid shit like the details of why WHO downgraded the number of dead from 20 to 9, or that Mexico got a Biosafety Lab... CDC style. Try to find that info in a US paper...
Hell the amount of disninfo we have seen is just galling. And truth be told is not that the reporters want to do that... just that they have no idea of what they are writing about many a times, or reporting on.
So if you want better media, time we demand the standards are raised, if they want to keep our eyes on proverbial screen.
Oh and incidentally the local news bunnies, they are not trying to scare me. The scary music and over the top graphics keep the eyes on screen, which they need to sell add space...
If they were...
ALL HUMANITY IS AT RISK, WHO
OH MY GOD WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE... walla instant panic...