• Question: is the media overeacting about the corona virus?

    Asked by anon-237783 to Peter, Mhairi, Madeleine, Catherine, Andrew on 13 Mar 2020.
    • Photo: Peter Kinderman

      Peter Kinderman answered on 13 Mar 2020:

      No. The science tells us that this is a nasty virus that could lead to many thousands of people dying unnecessarily. Maybe they are old people or people with existing health conditions… but many of the people I love most in the world are either elderly or have existing health conditions.
      The media might be making mistakes (people make mistakes, that’s why they put erasers on the ends of pencils), but this is a serious infection that we need to take seriously… not for ourselves, but in order to protect OTHER PEOPLE.
      Now… wash your hands !

    • Photo: Madeleine Pownall

      Madeleine Pownall answered on 13 Mar 2020:

      It is our duty to protect the most vulnerable (older people, people with health problems, etc). The media is trying to stress this to us in an informative way.

    • Photo: Mhairi Bowe

      Mhairi Bowe answered on 14 Mar 2020:

      I think there are different styles of reporting the same information. Your critical skills are important when choosing which media outlet to engage with. There are some really important messages about social and personal responsibility being shared, which is good.

    • Photo: Andrew McNeill

      Andrew McNeill answered on 16 Mar 2020:

      It depends on what media you are talking about. Inevitably some media sources make things very dramatic. Other media sources are very sensible. Choose wisely who you listen to! In the UK we are privileged to have an excellent public health team and they are worth listening to directly.

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