In C.S. Lewis’ book The Silver Chair a small group of people are called upon to make a long journey into the north. After a few days, one of them mentions that she’s finding she enjoys adventures–to which someone else replies, “But we haven’t had any yet.”
As I observe the frantic press response of the so-called swine flu pandemic, I find myself wondering if the problem quite warrants the volume (in terms of both quantity and loudness) of coverage. Certainly the illness is uncomfortable and potentially deadly, and nobody is eager to see a new flu virus emerge and start mutating from animals to humans. A superbug may yet emerge–but I’m not sure this is it.
After all, tens of thousands of people die every year during normal flu outbreaks. So far, we’ve had a couple hundred, world-wide.
It certainly didn’t help the press’s credibility on this story when they tracked down the first known person to be struck down by the swine flu–and found him recovering at home and feeling much better, thank you very much.
The course of this disease could still take a nasty turn; but meanwhile, scientists are working to develop a vaccine and incorporate it into the standard flu shot. Governments are deploying their Tamiflu stocks–just in case–which they might as well do, as the stuff would otherwise decay in storage.
It’s all very well to throw around words like “pandemic,” but doing so isn’t especially helpful (except to the ratings-dependent). It says nothing about the severity of the illness. A pandemic just means it’s all over the place. The common cold is “pandemic,” but it’s not a big deal. An ebola pandemic would truly be a nightmare.
The swine flu could still theoretically mutate and start doing serious damage to untold numbers of people. It hasn’t yet. Does the subject need to be covered in the news? It’s just as well to mention it, yes, to keep people informed that it’s out there. Do we need blow-by-blow accounts (or nose-blow by nose-blow accounts) of the crisis?
Maybe–if we actually had a crisis.
Tags: C.S. Lewis, overwrought reporting, press coverage, swine flu
