I watched locally in February as people shared the "worry about the flu/don't panic" articles to keep doing very risky things: travel, conferences. My area is highly-educated. They trusted credible media. They avoided social media misinformation. And they thus endangered all.
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Look, I gave a few examples, and I'm sorry to pick on people but honestly, I had to give examples because otherwise people immediately forget their own tribe's failings but those were not rare or terrible compared to average. They're just average. But where's the reflection?
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Amount of effort people spent attacking one (yes sensationalist and stupid tweet but it was more right than those "what about the flu" pieces) compared with utter lack of reflection on, how on earth did we do that in February from traditional media/journalists is disconcerting.
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I apologize for harsh words but too much at stake. We went through the Iraq war, the 2008 financial crisis, the 2016 election and now this. My friends in media excel at investigating Trump/MAGA failures and new media/tech issues but have to break their own blue wall of silence.
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zeynep tufekci Retweeted Jesse McKinley
A terrible tragedy, in one of the greatest cities in the world.
We already have failing governmental institutions. We have some of the best journalists in the world but US traditional media also has big structural failings we must reckon with.https://twitter.com/jessemckinley/status/1243204226211180544 …zeynep tufekci added,
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zeynep tufekci Retweeted
What about the flu, simplistic CFR/R0 discussions, don't panic, don't overreact, travel bans don't work, this effects the elderly like flu... Heard that so much in February. Now children are being denied surgery.

This was predictable *and* predicted. https://twitter.com/ColumbiaSurgery/status/1243204604382400513 …zeynep tufekci added,
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zeynep tufekci Retweeted
Of course. This is true. Linking to another good piece to understand this failure. The warnings were seen as alarmism, and all alarmism was equated with disinformation. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/03/why-was-it-so-hard-to-raise-the-alarm-on-coronavirus.html … https://twitter.com/scribandotcom/status/1243567094949498881 …
zeynep tufekci added,
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zeynep tufekci Retweeted Tom Winter
Yeah but what about the flu? This is why its was never, ever appropriate to compare it with the flu. If you overwhelm the system more people will die of.. the flu. And strep throat. And everything else. And we knew this was coming early Feb by latest.
https://twitter.com/tom_winter/status/1243613770854928389 …zeynep tufekci added,
Tom WinterVerified account @Tom_WinterNBC News: “The medical call volume for EMS in New York City over the past three days is the largest in our history”, says Deputy Commissioner for Public Information Frank Dwyer. FDNY is URGING New Yorkers not to call unless they are having a heart issue or trouble breathing.Show this thread2 replies 13 retweets 72 likesShow this thread -
From February 1st, me trying to ask people to stop flu comparisons.
(Screenshot, I’m not encouraging pileups here). I’m not blaming individuals, this was a widespread sentiment.pic.twitter.com/3clGIJnVyM
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