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Lemmings on Parade: The West Nile Virus |
Posted by
feralucce on Monday, August 06, 2001 - 02:07 PM PST
CNN: sensationalism at its best. Raise your hands if you have ever heard of the West Nile Virus. According to the center for disease control, it is a disease spread via the bite of blood sucking insects - such as mosquitoes. The virus starts out with flu like symptoms and can be fatal, primarily to the old, young and infirm.
Now… According to my friends at CNN (The same journalists running the TV listings as news), we are in the middle of an epidemic. 9 people have died in the US from the virus since 1999. Wow… some scary epidemic.
Let's review some of the other relevant facts. 15 people have died this summer from the heat. According to news papers from all over the country, hundred died from the flu in the same period. And 9 have died from the West Nile Virus.
Epidemic: An outbreak of a contagious disease that spreads rapidly and widely.
I'm confused… I think that I am suffering from a cerebral hemorrhage.
Feral
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The West Nile Virus | Login/Create an account | 4 Comments |
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Re: The West Nile Virus
by Ironboots on Aug 06, 2001 - 02:20 PM
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Stupidity ranges far and wide, kills people, and might be contagious, but nobody talks about that.
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Yellow Journalism Fever
by Monolycus on Aug 16, 2002 - 09:06 PM
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"Epidemic" is the kind of word that gets people to tune in. "Incidents" does not. Journalism is as much (or more) about making money as reporting the "facts". Remember the "shark bite epidemic" of 2001? There were no more (in fact, fewer) shark attacks in 2001 than any other year. They have been making 2002 the year of child abductions... despite the fact that there has been a stastical lull in the number of abduction cases in the past decade. It's all about what happens to be reported and the language they decide to use when they do it... and some focus group somewhere decides both of those things based upon projected revenue. Breaking news: I am, I was, I will be
~Monolycus.
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