Sensationalism in the News

We’ve all done it. When I think something is a big deal, I want others to think it’s a big deal, so I sensationalize the situation. I exaggerate it to make it seem better or worse than it really is. It’s human nature. However, when you’re a major news network, you should be more careful about these things. But most major news networks want people to think their way instead of just giving them the news. I’ve written about Bias in the News before but this is different. This is something we’ve seen with Bird Flu, West Nile Virus, Mad Cow Disease, and most recently, the swine flu ‘pandemic’.

Let me start by saying this: people dying is no joke. I’m not taking the situation lightly. However, according to CNN, there are 90 confirmed cases of swine flu world wide. Mexico estimates 152 deaths from swine flu. Even if we take a more liberal estimate and say 400 cases, that’s still 400 out of 6 Billion people. That’s 1 in every 15 Million people. Is that really a pandemic?

Let’s put this in perspective. According to Wikipedia, Every year 34,290 people in the United States ALONE die from Pancreatic Cancer. That is 93 people a day in the U.S. alone. Why isn’t that a pandemic? Because we’ve known about it for a while? 17,941 died from alcohol related collisions in 2006. That’s 49 people a day in the U.S. alone, and that is 100% preventable. Do you get my point?

The Black Death was a pandemic. It wiped out half the world. There was no cure. Small Pox was a pandemic. It ravaged the world until a vaccine was created. Swine Flu, in my opinion, is the just the flavor of the week. Scientists are working on a vaccine and not ever case is fatal. It’s irresponsible for news networks to call it a pandemic. Educate people on it, yes. But don’t create panic where there is not.