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 …
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Replying to @zeynep
I don't see any attempt from you to evaluate the coverage in a comprehensive way. You're cherry-picking. You're lumping unlike things together. No nuance for which outlets are doing better or worse. No recognition for what journalism is like in real time.
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Replying to @NateSilver538 @zeynep
where is your evaluation of the coverage in a comprehensive way? you just jumped into the thread, saying he is wrong and your only evidence is "i pay attention to the media and it's fine"
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He replied to my thread with my article at top, so go read it.
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Replying to @zeynep
I was asking him where his analysis is since he seems to think yours is cherrypicking.. I think your analysis is correct.
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