Thread from a month ago.
https://twitter.com/zeynep/status/1232352734990520331 …
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It's going to be like the 2016 election, isn't it? Many journalists did amazing reporting since, but there really hasn't been any systematic reckoning among traditional media and punditry about their own role in all of it. (They'll talk about the tech part, though). So with this.
14 replies 104 retweets 541 likesShow this thread -
zeynep tufekci Retweeted Jay Rosen
Yep. Lack of reflection among media and pundits that made all this so much worse is mindblowing. All of February, I watched people locally use those “what about the flu/travel bans don’t work/don’t overreact” articles to decide go on trips and conferences.https://twitter.com/jayrosen_nyu/status/1242647591990562816 …
zeynep tufekci added,
6 replies 58 retweets 233 likesShow this thread -
Replying to @zeynep
The media coverage on this story has been not without flaws. But pretty good on balance as compared to most other major stories of recent years. Doing journalism in real time is hard. But I guess when you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
11 replies 1 retweet 30 likes -
Replying to @NateSilver538
This just isn't true. There have been widespread "worry about the flu" articles; focus on travel bans as racist rather than if they were early or severe enough (they weren't), tons of articles telling people not to "overreact"—right up until March. Long, long past uncertainty.
1 reply 2 retweets 50 likes -
Replying to @zeynep @NateSilver538
Yes, journalism in real time is hard, that's why it should be done with people who are qualifed and more importantly, learn from their mistakes. People went on with conferences and Disney trips because of those articles. Plus, there is still no "speaking truth to power" on masks.
1 reply 3 retweets 44 likes -
Replying to @zeynep
I don't know. I, as an alert reader of media coverage, have been worried about this for a long time, as my friends/colleagues would be happy to tell you. The coverage has been pretty science-driven. The focus on the political aspect of it has been fairly proportionate.
7 replies 2 retweets 45 likes -
Replying to @NateSilver538 @zeynep
Uncertainty amidst something growing at exponential rates is both hard to understand and hard to convey to readers—I get that. I'm just tired of this constant hindsight bias when journalists don't have that luxury.
8 replies 2 retweets 25 likes -
Replying to @NateSilver538
It isn't hindsight bias, though. People who had no business reassuring us reassured us falsely and unscientifically. I trace that in my article. In early February, we had everything in place to 1-Recommend stopping travel/cancelling gatherings. 2-Tell people to get ready.
2 replies 1 retweet 41 likes -
Replying to @zeynep @NateSilver538
Instead of reporting, we got scripts "travel bans are racist", "panic is bad", "overreaction has downsides" etc that are sometimes appropriate, but weren't to this. That's the whole value of journalism though! Break the script and investigate! Otherwise, it's autopilot punditry.
2 replies 4 retweets 44 likes
It's a failure akin to "what about her emails" reporting in 2016. Journalists didn't understand odds versus poll averages and coupled error (all that was in your footnotes) when, by March, it was clear to me he had a chance (I wrote it in NYT then) and to the polls in summer.
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