Monday, April 27, 2009

Sensationalism is the New Press: Or How We're all going to DIE!!!

So, I was checking my email, and one of the links to yahoo!News happens to catch my eye. It screams "Swine Flu epidemic enters dangerous new phase"!!!!! zOMG... it must be terrible, they must have more information, more people must have died, or something... Nope. Same story that I read earlier this afternoon. Nothing had changed, except they felt the need to make the title sensational.

As an aside, I happened to visit the WHO's website. Their latest update says that seven people are dead in Mexico from this. Yes, you read that correctly. There are 26 confirmed cases of swine flu in Mexico, and seven, yes that's seven people are dead. According to them.
Swine Influenza - Update 3

27 April 2009 -- The current situation regarding the outbreak of swine influenza A(H1N1) is evolving rapidly. As of 27 April 2009, the United States Government has reported 40 laboratory confirmed human cases of swine influenza A(H1N1), with no deaths. Mexico has reported 26 confirmed human cases of infection with the same virus, including seven deaths. Canada has reported six cases, with no deaths, while Spain has reported one case, with no deaths.


Further information on the situation will be available on the WHO website on a regular basis.


WHO advises no restriction of regular travel or closure of borders. It is considered prudent for people who are ill to delay international travel and for people developing symptoms following international travel to seek medical attention, in line with guidance from national authorities.


There is also no risk of infection from this virus from consumption of well-cooked pork and pork products. Individuals are advised to wash hands thoroughly with soap and water on a regular basis and should seek medical attention if they develop any symptoms of influenza-like illness.

Now the AP is saying it's 160 dead in Mexico, and their numbers keep going up every hour. They have no information though on who is dead, demographics, age, etc and no source for their numbers. The Health Minister of Mexico has said that twenty are confirmed dead of swine flu, but he can't give details because of privacy reasons, and doesn't "have the information" on him concerning their ages or situations. Really? You have got to be fucking kidding me. What are we basing these numbers on? Rumors?!

What I want to know, is when the fuck someone is going to reign the press in and tell them to stop spreading possible lies and causing panic. And when the fuck is Mexico going to get their shit together and figure out what is going on and who has actually died of this as opposed to any other form of flu or illness. It's like, "oh yes, old lady Juarez is dead down the street of something, must be swine flu because what else could it be?"

And again, a public health announcement. Wash your fucking hands!

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"You turn the page, you wash your hands. You turn the page, you wash your hands. You turn the page, you wash your hands."--Filbert, Rocko's Modern Life

8 comments:

  1. Hey, just because fewer people have died in this pandemic than are killed in car crashes every day, or by cigarettes every...oh, five minutes, maybe?...that doesn't mean you have to get all sarcastic....

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  2. I se the WHO has released a statement that was toned down a lot from what the head guy had said earlier in the day when he said that it was almost at pandemic stage.

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  3. What? No pandemic! Omigod! I sold everything! I'm living in the street, waiting to die!

    Aaargh!

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  4. A lot of this hysteria feels manufactured by MSM outlets.

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  5. Hery, if it says that we are going to die on the television...then it MUST be true! Television would NEVER say something unless it was true, right?

    Another reason I don't watch T.V....

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  6. Well HermitJim, we decided that the press was being sensationalist because their ratings were down. What with the economy and all, I think everyone just about stopped watching the news. They seized this opportunity and ran with it.

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  7. Actually, we are all going to die. At least I plan to, eventually. But anyway, I guess world leaders' big lesson from 2000-2009 has been that sensationalism and mass fearmongering is the only thing that effectively draws attention away from reality TV.

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  8. True that SheaNC... as my father used to tell me, "You ain't getting out of this [life] alive, so why worry?"

    He also frequently would say "Eat, Drink and be Merry, for tomorrow ye may die." Good advice if I do say so myself.

    And I suppose as reality TV gets more absurd, the press has to get more sensational, or they won't have any viewers LOL

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