Thursday, December 10, 2020

Media were a terrible failure in reporting Covid19 facts says a new NBER report

"Reporters ignored good news, mangled the facts, and stoked panic — and some people (but probably not reporters) will pay for it with their lives and livelihoods."

What was good news never or seldom reported? Low fatality rate, .3%. Virtually no cases or deaths among children. Incredible advances among therapeutics with our president as one of the best examples. Stoking panic? Every night endless reports in hushed tones. Zucker of CNN demanding his reporters clobber Trump with Covid news. Mangled facts. Trump haters blaming him for the deaths, when he took all legal steps based on the science and medical advice of his team. Unproved demands of "scientists" about masks causing confusion and anger among the people. Waves of infections all over the world in different cultures, climates, and classes, yet media Trump haters continued to blame the president.

9.4 million published news stories. I wonder how many WWII received? “Trump and hydroxychloroquine” receive more coverage than do all stories about companies and researchers developing vaccines.

What media bias?

A very low time in our history. For media. For press. For the 4th estate.

From the news report. Coronavirus Pandemic: Media-Driven Fear Warped COVID Response | National Review

"The estimated probability that a COVID-19 article is negative varies from 70 percent to 100 percent among major U.S. outlets. These probabilities are not correlated with the likelihood that conservative consumers of news trust the source. COVID-19 stories from Fox News are about as negative as those from CNN."

". . . among the U.S. major media 15,000 stories mention increases in caseloads while only 2,500 mention decreases, or a 6 to 1 ratio. Even when caseloads were falling nationally (April 24th to June 27th), this ratio remains relatively high at 5.3 to 1. "

"The U.S. major outlets ran 1,371 such [vaccine development and companies working on vaccines] stories. During the same period they ran 8,756 stories involving Trump and mask wearing and 1,636 stories about Trump and hydroxy chloroquine. "

WHY IS ALL COVID-19 NEWS BAD NEWS? Bruce Sacerdote , Ranjan Sehgal,  Molly Cook “Working Paper 28110”  http://www.nber.org/papers/w28110

NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH

https://www.nber.org/.../working_papers/w28110/w28110.pdf 

The authors never concluded, but I did, the negativity in the media was intended to make Trump look bad, and not to provide the public with honest, public health information.

Someone should go to jail or at least be fined or demoted. I'd trust the robo callers telling me I have back pain, or that my electricity provider needs to be changed or that my computer is running slow before I'd accept what the media (and FB fact checkers) are telling us.

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