Posted on 04/24/2020 8:48:29 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Do you want evidence that the media has overhyped the dangers of the Coronavirus? You don’t need to look any farther than the Washington Post headline from Tuesday: “CDC director warns second wave of coronavirus is likely to be even more devastating.”
The headline focused on a quote from the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Robert Redfield: “There’s a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through. We’re going to have the flu epidemic and the coronavirus epidemic at the same time.”
At his Coronavirus press briefing on Wednesday, President Trump berated the Washington Post and CNN for this coverage. “The headline in the Washington Post was totally inaccurate. The statement wasn’t bad in Post. The headline in the Washington Post was ridiculous, which is, as I say, Fake News and CNN is Fake News, like crazy, which they knew. They were asked to change it, and they wouldn’t do it.”
Apparently, Redfield directly contacted the Washington Post, and he tried to explain things, but he was unsuccessful in getting his point across.
So was Trump justified in his reaction? Is “there’s a possibility” the same as “likely to be”? Possibly as a statistician, I look at these words too precisely, but when you say that there is the “possibility” something could happen, you are just saying there is a greater than zero chance of it occurring. By contrast, when you say something is likely to happen, you are saying that it is more likely than not to happen, which means that there is at least a 50.1 percent chance of it happening.
The difference between saying something is greater than zero chance of occurring and that it is greater than a fifty percent chance of it happening is enormous.
Now compare “more difficult than the one we just went through” with “even more devastating.” Even more devastating that the pretty bad situation that we have gone through this year is going to scare a lot of people. But while something more “difficult” to deal with might end up being more devastating, that isn’t necessarily the case. Devastating refers to a final result, and “more difficult” refers to a process. Given one might be better able to anticipate what one is facing this time around. For example, with the advance warning of this seasonal virus, you could better set up tracking of cases. For example, you can hire people to track what people an infected person has come in contact with.
Or, as Redfield notes in the quote below, more people could get the vaccine for the flu this time. “But I think it’s really important to emphasize what I didn’t say. I didn’t say that this was gonna be worse. The key to my comments, and the reason that I really wanted to stress them, was to appeal to the American public to embrace the flu vaccine with confidence.”
During the press briefing, ABC’s Jonathan Karl appeared to argue that since the Washington Post “accurately quoted” him, their headline must also be right. But the president had already made clear that the quote in the body of the article was correct. His issue was with the title, which surely created a misimpression of what the quote meant. The fact that the quote was accurate doesn’t imply that title was appropriate.
It is very commonplace for headline writers to put together headlines that grab attention. Still, people are already scared about this virus, and overhyping the dangers can cause further harm. If the news media convince people that the dangers in the future are much more “devastating” than they are, might politicians keep the economy locked down too long? As of Thursday morning, 26 million Americans had lost their jobs. Headlines like the Washington Post’s have contributed to those losses.
There are some evil people who are terrifying certain segments of the population with this hysteria. They need to beheld accountable for their actions.
The media is splitting hairs and playing partisan games now.
We will likely have hotspots of this virus once we open things back up. It is almost certain.
I don’t think it will be like the first wave as we are starting to formulate a plan to deal with it.
It is pointless to speculate. The media has adopted the tack that we should remain shut down until this is eradicated.
That won’t happen any time soon or maybe ever.
Trump is trying to get us back open for business with precautions in place and a plan to deal with it moving forward.
The democrats are going to play partisan games with their media cheerleaders.
We are in a better position now to deal with this and it will only improve moving forward.
How Accurate was the Washington Post
Your kidding right they never have been accurate about anything.
The left doesn’t care how many Americans die. As long as Trump is defeated. That’s how evil they are.
The flu has waves every year, killing tens of thousands. We don’t shut down.
Alcohol traffic deaths kill over 50,000 per year. We don’t shut down.
“They need to beheld accountable for their actions.”
I thought you were suggesting they need to beheaded. :)
Leftest rat commie bastards are never held accountable.
Partisan Media Shills update.
The media’s goal is to keep the economy locked down until election day —- and then blame Trump for the lousy economy. “it’s the economy, stupid!”
Don't be too complacent
Remember, or have you ever seen the statics for the Second Wave of the Spanish flu ?
The second wave was the deadliest wave, since re-infection occurred with the returning soldiers, exhausted medical personnel and supplies, etc.
The possibility of reinfection is worthy of consideration; history repeats itself,especially among the ignorant and complacent.
Don't kill the message because you didn't like the messinger who brought it !
There are uncommonly second waves the next winter, but an honest news article would have admitted that these are almost always a small fraction of the severity of the first
True. Also true is that we have made significant technological and scientific progress in the last 100 years. Thus, we are better prepared.
They want it to be so. Their warnings must take that fact into consideration.
The black plague and the Spanish flu both had second waves that were more deadly. But their first waves were already far more deadly than this virus has been. We got no second wave with ebola, SARS, H1N1, etc. but if the goal is to frighten rather than reassure then you go with the black death as your template.
Does anyone believe the Post?
You know the black plague isn’t a virus
It’s pretty clear the rat/media complex is trying to keep the panic going to cause economic collapse. No matter how many lives are lost or ruined, to them it’s worth it to drive Orange Man from office.
It is amazing how the media—and many posters here—hang on to words either out of context or said in passing—as if they are written in stone and laid at the base of a monument.
If we were to hold these people—journalists and Freepers— to their words, they would crumble and fall apart. This is especially funny when you understand 99% of this stuff is targeted at Government employees. Not exactly the best and brightest.
If the world worked this way, nothing would ever get done.
Everyone needs to take a breath and a step back...
I think if it were true, it would be well documented by now and the whole world would know.
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