Skip to main content

Ebola Virus Outbreak Goes Viral!

Image
By
While I haven’t devoted significant space on this blog to the news media, it is not because I do not have strong opinions on the current state of journalism.  Indeed, I could write an entire blog on the subject, and many have.

News acquisition and analysis have always been important facets of my adult life.  I spend many hours every week reading various newspapers and other materials to gain new perspectives on the issues of the day.  Nearly every morning, I send items of interest to a close circle of friends and family.  I read news and opinion, although sometimes it’s hard to tell one from the other.  I am always drawn to opinions that differ from my own. While there is excellent journalism today, the profession is deeply flawed by a blow-dried approach that appeals to our tabloid lust and their desire for increased ratings. 

Just because it’s above the fold on Page 1, doesn’t mean it truly deserves this prime real estate.  Pick up your own newspaper and see what the leading articles are.  It’s likely to be some local crime outbreak, while news that really matters is either a small item pages later, or may not appear at all.

TV News - If It Bleeds, It Leads!

Turn on CNN.   Set your stopwatch to measure how many minutes it will take before the bright banner of BREAKING NEWS flashes across the screen.  All that’s left is for Wolf Blitzer to announce:

BREAKING NEWS! 
 HERE’S A COMMERCIAL THAT YOU CAN'T MISS!!

How has the media performed with the Ebola issue?  Poorly, in my judgment.  First, the coverage has been absolutely suffocating on major TV stations and has been on Page 1 of newspapers for days now.  Is this an important issue?  Of course.  Are there public health ramifications?  Definitely.  Has the media heightened public fear beyond the science?  Without question.

When the media, particularly television, sinks their fangs into an issue, they will feed upon it until either the ratings start to ebb or some new fresh meat draws them away.  Remember how CNN covered the Malaysian airplane disappearance?  

While Ebola is clearly newsworthy, the number of infections and fatalities that have occurred here in the U.S. can be counted on one hand, with a few fingers to spare.  My point is that the coverage has been disproportionate to other issues that have been sidelined, as the media routinely does.
  • 30,000 Americans will die of flu this year
  • 11,000 expected U.S. deaths by firearms this year.
  • About 100 U.S. highway fatalities daily with a yearly estimate of 30,000 victims
Where’s the proportionality?   While every life is sacred, why are big stories buried and much smaller ones sensationalized?   Last night, I came home and declared that my domicile would be an Ebola-free zone for the evening.   This meant there would be no TV news for us.  I feared that even turning on a random TV channel could violate my edict as Ebola coverage is omnipresent.  To make sure that we were in compliance, we pursued a safe entertainment alternative.  Netflix!

Ebola, a deadly virus, has gone viral in the press.  The media, as always, perpetuates journalistic contagion.  Maybe they should be quarantined?
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Becoming a Part-Time Physician

By
Next month my schedule will change.  I will henceforth be off on Fridays with my work week truncated to Monday through Thursday.   I am excited to be enjoying a long weekend every weekend.  And while the schedule change is relatively minor, this event does feel like an important career moment for me.  It is the first step on a journey that will ultimately lead beyond my professional career.  It is this recognition that makes this modest schedule modification more significant than one would think it deserves.  As some readers know,   my current employed position has been a dream job for me.   Prior to this, I was in a small private practice, which I loved, but was much more challenging professionally and personally.   My partner and I ran the business.   Working nights, weekends and holidays were routine for decades.   On an on-call night, if I slept  through until morning, I felt as if I had won the lottery.   And w...
15 comments
Read more

When Should Doctors Retire?

By
I am asked with some regularity whether I am aiming to retire in the near term.  Years ago, I never received such inquiries.  Why now?   Might it be because my coiffure and goatee – although finely-manicured – has long entered the gray area?  Could it be because many other even younger physicians have given up their stethoscopes for lives of leisure? (Hopefully, my inquiring patients are not suspecting me of professional performance lapses!) Interestingly, a nurse in my office recently approached me and asked me sotto voce that she heard I was retiring.    “Interesting,” I remarked.   Since I was unaware of this retirement news, I asked her when would be my last day at work.   I have no idea where this erroneous rumor originated from.   I requested that my nurse-friend contact her flawed intel source and set him or her straight.   Retirement might seem tempting to me as I have so many other interests.   Indeed, reading and ...
69 comments
Read more

Will Smarter Lawyers End Frivolous Lawsuits?

By
How do you know if a lawyer is any good?  Of course, they've all passed the bar, but now their profession is lowering it.  While most of us strive for excellence, and raise our children to value this virtue, prominent legal educators are establishing a new quality intitiative for their profession.  Who says that lawyers can't reform themselves?  Perhaps, we physicians can follow their bold example and raise the credentials of our pre-medical students.  I’ll present the facts. You be the judge. I have written a dozen posts on tort reform on this blog, which always generate spirited and adversarial retorts from attorneys and their supporters. They accuse me and other tort reform advocates of carrying water for insurance companies. They repeatedly point out that I know nothing about the legal system and are unqualified to opine on its flaws. They deride me when I argue that effective tort reform would reduce the practice of defensive medicine, despite the re...
83 comments
Read more