OK, I get it, I understand, the whole Swine Flu thing is dangerous and tense but I am really really fuck tired of how the News is handling this whole thing. Why not just start screaming into the camera
"OH GOD, OH GOD, WE'RE ALL GONNA FUCKING DIE. AHHHH RUN RUNNNNN!!'
Actually that would be too honest for the media whose entire existence is based on scaring people into staying home and buying things. It's not about a Liberal or Conservative media anymore, it's about money bucks. We need ratings so lets make everything that goes even the tiniest bit wrong into a massive shitstorm so people will feel that they must tune in or they'll die.
When I was watching the "coverage" of the Swine Flu it became increasingly interesting how much language has to do with the fear that the News instills in all of us. Look at something as average as the name of the flu. It's called A/H1N1, that's the scientific name for it. However that isn't sexy so the media found out it attacked pigs mostly and decided to call it Swine Flu.
Swine Flu sounds like something out of a Stephen King novel so it'll scare people quicker and get them to tune in. Once the truly ignorant started killing off pigs to purge the flu from their midst (nicely done Egypt) the News started calling the virus by it's real name...sort of.
A/H1N1 again doesn't roll off the tongue so the News shortened it to H1N1 because that sounds scarier. The other sounds all technical and less like an action movie plot. Now we're being attacked by the H1N1 which could cause a pandemic. That's a movie tag line worthy of 1980s Stallone.
When the little boy was found who first had the flu he was labeled "Patient Zero". I guess saying something like "This little boy was the first to get the flu" wasn't nearly terrifying enough so out comes "Patient Zero" and where does Patient Zero live?
"GROUND ZERO"
Yep because giving his location wouldn't scare a paranoid old woman high on bad weed but fuckin' A "Ground Zero" sounds like a bomb target and that is all super scary. I also love how figuring out what to do about this flu is titled "Threat Assessment", the same term we use for terrorist movements. So according to our language we're involved in some kind of germ jihad by a a viral terrorist.
Now that's some scary shit.
Even the Center for Disease Control is adding to the fear. First of all thousands die of influenza every year, so let's not start reciting sections from The Stand just yet. Secondly why would the CDC go on national television and say "We fully expect to see many deaths" What does that solve? Who does that help? Why not wait until there are actual deaths before tossing that term around.
I'm also all set with the news listing all these deaths and how the pandemic is spreading across America. So far everybody who has gotten sick was in Mexico for some reason and the first "death in the states attributed to Swine Flu" was a baby visiting Texas from...where?
Drum roll
MEXICO
Let's forget that many babies die every year of flu like infections. The poor baby that died was actually a citizen of Mexico. Technically there hasn't been one death of an American in America. Why not say that? Why make everything about scaring people to death.
I also love how the news would rather report all the terrible things on the Swine Flu then delve into how you can avoid it. Sure they toss out little tidbits like "wash your hands" but spend most of the air time letting you know how awful it is and that it's incurable once you get it. Why not dedicate as much reporting time on what all can be done to avoid infection? Because that wouldn't scare the shit out of people and get them to remain glued to the TV waiting for the next awful story.
I realize this is serious and I'm not asking anybody to sugar coat anything for me but how about attempting to make it less end-of-the-world dramatic? Just report the news stop sensationalizing it. It doesn't help it just breeds more fear.
Which I feel is a disease that does a lot more damage.
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