Sensationalized Media Coverage More Threatening Than Swine Flu Virus?

Is Fearmongering Media More Threatening Than Swine Flu Virus?
May 2nd, 2009

Media seems to be repeating tactics reminiscent of 1976 swine flu scare

by Rebecca Edwards

Gerald Ford getting his flu vaccination in 1976.

What has the power to simultaneously close 10 Utah schools, cancel all Summit County youth programs, move a Cinco de Mayo 5k to the 6th of May and cause the LDS church to suspend church meetings in the Park City area AND Mexico City? The Swine Flu, of course! But what exactly is the swine flu and why is it different from the seasonal flu we see every year?

The simple answer is that it's not very different at all according to Dr. Anne Schuchat, Director for the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

"The symptoms appear relatively non-specific," Schuchat said in a press briefing. "High fever, cough, sore throat, muscle aches, and possibly vomiting and diarrhea. Those can be caused by so many different things, and it's impossible for someone to tell whether those symptoms are caused by this new swine flu virus, another flu virus or any of the many, many respiratory viruses and bacteria that can cause the same kinds of symptoms. This is a dilemma."

So far Utah has one confirmed case of swine flu, and the US has seen one fatality--we see over 36,000 deaths every year from the run-of-the-mill, average, everyday flu--and yet that never seems to bring social and educational functions to a grinding halt. Despite the lack of new cases in Utah governmental, religious, and community organizations continue to close down and take almost ridiculous measures to fight the swine flu "epidemic."

Media coverage of the dozens of deaths in Mexico and "worst case scenario" predictions are fueling the fears and paranoia of thousands of Americans--despite the fact that all evidence points to the current virus losing its potency. No one seems to remember the 1976 swine flu scare, and the seemingly-forgotten fact that Pvt. David Lewis, the first victim of the 1976 swine flu virus, ended up being the ONLY victim.

Edicts from the World Health Organization, declaring a "pandemic health level" of 5 and states of emergency being declared by the CDC as well as individual states don't help the average American keep perspective. Buried under piles of dramatic news coverage featuring people wearing surgical masks and throwing around words like plague and pandemic, are some less fantastic, calmer voices like that of Dr. Marc Siegel, author of False Alarm; the Truth about the Epidemic of Fear and Bird Flu: Everything You Need to Know About the Next Pandemic.

"In the current swine flu scare the virus is assumed to be a more powerful human killer than it actually is," Seigel states. "In reality it appears to be losing virulence as it spreads human to human and is not that transmissible, and is NOT becoming widespread."

Siegel's assertion was confirmed early Sunday by the acting director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Richard Besser, on ABC's "This Week" program.

"What we have found is that we are not seeing the factors that were associated with the 1918 pandemic. We are not seeing the factors that were associated with other H1N1 viruses," Besser said.

However, Besser added that "it is not time to let our guard down...we have to continue in an uncertain situation to be aggressive."

In today's information age it seems nearly impossible for the majority of mainstream media to avoid sensationalizing concerns about the swine flu, despite the fact that exaggerated fears and mass hysteria in 1976 led to a nationwide vaccination program for a pandemic that never occurred. Forty million Americans were vaccinated and the only other fatalities of the "outbreak" were attributed to complications arising from the vaccination.

Media outlets are challenged to balance the responsible reporting of a health threat and precautions that should be taken with the temptation to paint the most devastating picture possible because that's what the average American seems to pay attention to.

To find out more than just the mainstream version of the swine flu story, check out these links to news and blogs across the web:

Swine Flu and Hype--A Media Illness

Reader Comments

Kathie Bischke

I do remember the first swine flu scare, and they did have a vaccination for it. I did not get the vaccination for it cause I was pregnant at the time. Good coverage.

Jeff Sweat

As John Stewart said after playing clips of all the media outlets saying they don't want to freak people out, "You don't want to freak us out? You're the only reason we are freaking out!"

THANK YOU!! FINALLY some responsible reporting on the issue.