For a long time, I’ve been puzzled by the volume of fear-driven messages of Dutch and international media on the Covid-19 response. These fear-driven messages caused a tunnel vision and resulted in a race to the bottom. Also see my blog Race to the bottom.
A December 6 article in the National Review confirms the above: Media-Driven Fear Warped Our COVID Response. This article is based on a recent National Bureau of Economic Research paper, entitled: Why Is All COVID-19 News Bad News?
National Review: “91% of stories by U.S. major media outlets are negative in tone versus 54% for non-U.S. major sources and 65% for scientific journals. Stories of increasing COVID-19 cases outnumber stories of decreasing cases by a factor of 5.5 even during periods when new cases are declining.” Note: bold and italic emphasis added by LO.
I think, feel and believe that negative Dutch news coverage resembles the 91% in USA. Only on social media sites you will find different views. Unfortunately, many of these are emotional and/or extremist (eg, conspiracies). As far as I can tell, only one Dutch politician (and entrepreneur) is asking valid questions. Yet, his questions are technical and come across as boring.
This week, I made a casual comment: in the 1980’s, we have had an advertising slogan called “sex sells“. The automotive industry has been notorious for this (eg, video 1, video 2, video 3). Subsequently, the focus was on “crime sells” (eg, newspapers, TV news shows, TV crime series). Nowadays, the media slogan appears to be “fear sells“.
The upside of the above is an increase in news consumption (eg, SWI). The downside is a revenue decline (eg, SWI). Worse: fear causes a fight, flight and freeze response in people:
“This imbalance in media coverage has created a climate of fear that has real consequences. Millions of children have skipped their routine vaccinations this year. The consequent drop in immunizations will leave every community in the U.S. in greater danger of such highly contagious diseases as measles, whooping cough, and even polio.” (National Review)
At times, constitutional rights (eg, freedom of speech) have unintended consequences (my 2019 blog). China has a clear view on its choices and priorities (eg, Li Wenliang). I think, feel and believe that the West is slowly embracing the idea of restricting news and social media coverage. Covid-19 is its excuse.
The Fear (2011) by Ben Howard
artist, lyrics, video, Wiki-1, Wiki-2
I’ve been worrying
That my time here’s a little unclear
I’ve been worrying
That I’m losing the ones I hold dear
I’ve been worrying
That we all
Live our lives
In the confines of fear
Note: all markings (bold, italic, underlining) by LO unless stated otherwise.
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