Friday, March 06, 2020

Will American Journalists Learn Their "Chicken Little" Lesson from Coronavirus?


Millennials are so cute.

They think global warming is both real and new.  But as a veteran of America and the American education/media system I've seen a bevy of "global warmings" before.

My earliest recollection was global cooling.  I am old enough to remember it, though not fully understand it.  I was told by my "elders" we were due for another ice age, and was more excited about the return of woolly mammoth than how well the 70's insulation was in our house.  But I was assured there'd be a lot more snow days when this inevitable ice age came.

The second was (of all things) the evil paper companies who were going to cut down every single tree in America.

Never mind this lie was told to me by a then-24 year old ditz with an education degree.
Never mind most trees are unprofitable to cut down and turn to paper.
Never mind paper companies have acres of trees they grow under specific conditions to make them easier to produce into paper.

Nope, Georgia Pacific was going to cut down every single tree and all of America would look like Nebraska.

The third time the sky was falling was the rain forests of the Amazon.  We were told (by those same low-IQ "teachers") that the Amazon rainforest was the "lungs" of the world. And without them, we would all run out of oxygen.  And if we just donated what little money our then-12 year old hands had, somehow that would stop the deforestation in a country some 4,000 miles away.  The remnant of that lie still remains today with the "Rain Forest Cafe" which you can still visit - and get shitty food at - at the Mall of America.

On the heels of "the Amazon rain forest" was "the ozone layer."  Without it we would all die of skin cancer because evil corporations wanted to kill their customers...making perfect sense.  And in a blatant Orwellian aim to scaremonger children into environmentalism (and homosexuality, no seriously, think about it) a cartoon called "Captain Planet" was created making little nazi-do-gooding crusaders of children who didn't know any better.

The fifth time the sky was falling (and still is) was global warming.  Many of our then high-school minds said, "wait a minute, what about the ice age that was going to kill us all...and bring back woolly mammoth?"  But that didn't matter.  Climatologists forgot to carry the one or something, and now it was unbearable heat that was going to kill all of humanity, not bone-chilling temperatures.

Since that time climatologists, government, teachers, professors, media, and journalists have stuck with global warming as the scaremonger's choicie de jour, but since then we've had several more instances of the sky falling.  Specifically viruses that were all going to wipe us out.

First it was swine flu.
Then it was bird flu.
Then it was SARS.
Then it was MERS.
Then it was Zika.
Ebola made a short come back for a second there.
And now it's Coronavirus.

But to your average 15 year old Gen Z'er or his older Millennial brother who's still living at home, they think this is the end of the world (though wasn't that last week when Trump killed an Iranian general which was going to prompt WWIII?).

So I think I speak for most of the mature, adult American population when I say this, but

"Dear journalists, teachers, media, and government officials.  Please just shut the fuck up."

I am fully aware that the Coronavirus *might* be a real threat to the world.  It might be a real epidemic that *may* cause a bubonic plague-like death rate last seen in the 1300's.  I know we should be doing what we need to do to stop it's spreading.  But I'm sorry, you've lied to the American public so many times before to get subscriptions, viewership, political donations, government funding, or (now) clicks/traffic.  And you've cried wolf long enough that nobody is taking you seriously as they should.

At one time, the job of the media was to act as the 4 branch of government; the nervous system of a democracy to not only keep tabs on government and government officials, but to inform the American public what was going on.  But this required first and above all else a commitment to truth.  A commitment to reality.  And it's become painfully obvious over the decades that nobody in journalism, media, education or the government is interested in that. You're interested in sensationalism, ginning up fear, making mountains out of molehills, all to generate income or for political power.

Now, I know you're all journalism majors and thus incredibly stupid, but the story of "The Little Boy Who Cried Wolf" should maybe be taught at the laughable "Journalism" programs various worthless colleges and universities offer. And the jist of the story is that a little boy cried wolf all the time to the villagers so he could get attention.  Soon the villagers stopped listening because he was an idiot, attention-whoring journalism major...errr...."boy."  But one day a real coronavirus...errr...wolf showed up.  And when he cried wolf, nobody came to save him and the wolf ate the boy.

This is the real price American media, journalism, and even educational professionals are paying - your validity.  Nobody really believes you anymore.  You are no more respected than the British journalism industry which is nothing more than tabloids and the BBC.  And you are no more legitimate than "true TV" with fake shows like "The Bachelor" "Storage Wars" "Maurry Povich" or "Dr. Phil."  You predominantly peddle fiction, not investigative journalism or facts, and nobody is listening to you anymore.

If (and that's a big IF) coronavirus turns out to be a big wolf, the American media will have blood on its hands for dulling Americans' senses over the decades to the point they no longer take you seriously.  So please either develop some principles, return to real journalism, report the truth, or just shut the fuck up.

This post sponsored by a book no journalist or 
American media member would identify with.
Buy one if you didn't go to J-school.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lucid.
Also, howling at the moon.
More please.

RB House

Mike said...

Marxist stooges never learn from history, because deep down inside they're always hoping that if they bring about the revolution, they'll be in the ruling class rather than being the first ones put against the wall and shot.
Laziness leads to absolute delusion.

CBMTTek said...

Cappy:

Could not agree more. Granted, there are a lot of unknowns about this virus, but I also notice that the deaths seem to be slowing down, there seem to be a lot of people infected that show little to no symptoms, etc... BUT! PANIC!!!! Now! Go buy gallons of hand sanitizer.

Same thing with any number of other issues. Treyvon Martin kicked off a stream of racist whites will kill you because of your skin color. Do not get me started about how the poor muslims are so oppressed (citation needed). Ohhh... almost forgot about the rape culture in colleges.

About 12-15 years ago, the "journalists" got everyone terrified of swimming at the beach because someone off the coast of MD got bit. "If you get within 10 miles of the ocean you're nothing but fish food!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Yet, that year, shark attacks were at a low point.

Anyone who things that news is about something other than eyeballs on the screen is living in a world of fiction. The more sensational you make it, the more eyes you get. It is entertainment, not news.

Faithless Cynic said...

Mon Capitan, I do not agree with you on the Corona Virus. This crap is a killer if you are over 60, also, it may mutate into a deadlier form. Also, if you need hospital care the bills will bankrupt you. For the last 20 years, I have cured every cold and flu with massive doses of vitamin C. Will megadose vitamin C work on Corona? No idea, but, I will damn well try it before going to the medical mafia for assistance and guaranteed bankruptcy.

Check out the Vitamin C Foundation for more info.

In general, you are right on about the news media. Anything you hear from the mainstream media is the blarting of a professional liar trying to advance the cause of socialism.

Magson said...

You forgot how after the ice age wasn't a thing anymore that it was going to be acid rain that was going to burn all the plants and poison all the water and thus kill all life on earth!!!!!

And then it was the CFC's and the ozone layer ;-)

alanstorm said...

"Will American Journalists Learn?"

Some questions just answer themselves...

Rodrigo said...

Been saying this for years... because I'm not a Millenial.

Also... consider the bullsh*t environmental justification that the media has pumped for the most ridiculous save-the-blue-ball initiatives which are, perhaps, now going to assist in whatever plague may befall us at some point in the future.

Like banning straws for the whale blowholes. Every restaurant in our town has now gone to having waitresses smear their fingers all over the rim of every strawless glass of soda they drop on your table which you are promptly expected to put to your lips. It would be hard to come up with a more effective way to spread a communicable virus, except maybe just having you lick a stranger's fingers.

Single use plastic bags likewise prevent alzheimerian tuberculosis patients from bringing their germ besotten reusable cloth bags to the grocery store where they promptly finger every item on the shelves with fresh plague crust. But we had to ban sanitary plastic bag to save the narwhal or something.

Nearly as stupid as when they mandated mercury loaded lightbulbs to save the planet. Many of which ended up in the river outside the reservation at the edge of town, chemically enriching the fish for a few hundred more years.

When the media and government get on the save the world bandwagon it's an almost sure bet they are doing exactly the opposite.

heresolong said...

Math teacher here. I have taken time at the beginning of all my classes in the last week to talk about coronavirus and what is really going on, as well as dispel any myths and tell the kids that the best thing they can do is wash their hands, not share water with their friends, and stay away from people who are obviously sick. Hopefully at least my 80 or 90 kids won't succumb to this particular hysteria (although I'm pretty sure that most of them believe in man made global warming and the imminent destruction of the earth, so I don't know why they care about covid).

David Wholly said...

Ah yes. I remember those days. I'm just a bit older than you (49), but I remember all of those. The earth was going to become eternally dark, and we were going to have glaciers spreading across America. I'm serious, they REALLY said this in school. My other favorite was that we needed to switch from paper bags to plastic, because the trees were all going to disappear. Even as a kid, I saw how little sense this made. Wasn't paper more biodegradable? And can't you grow more trees? Now they want to switch back to paper bags. How long before they start screaming about the trees again?

Another favorite... we need to switch to alternate sources of energy, because we were going to completely run out of oil by 1986. Remember that one? Now we need alternate sources of energy, because there is too much drilling and oil burning going on.

On a side note, I think the "journalists" DO learn the story of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf", except the takeaway THEY get from the tale is "never tell the same lie twice".

Older and Wiser said...

Don't forget all of the different things in the 1970s/80s "which cause cancer" in lab rats.
One of the funniest 'gag items' that I saw at the time was a bottle of what looked like colored water, and was labeled "RAT POISON / Ingredients: Cyclamates, White Sugar, Saccharin, Red Dye #5, Tap Water".

JD said...

The Coronavirus got almost one tenth of the global population under military quarantine, and trashed the chinese economy and the tourism industries. It didn't cause a post apocalyptic dystopia, but it DID have a significant impact. Even if it were to be cured with a 'Robin Williams Genie wish' tomorrow, the effects are still somewhat significant.

Anonymous said...

A cartoon called "Captain Planet" was created ...

What's wrong with Captain Planet ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwJaELXadKo

TwoDogs said...

Let's not forget the Population Bomb and Peak Oil, to mention just two more fizzled panics of the past. But this Covid stuff ? I see some potential for disaster. Read some WRSA and Aesop, they're really worried.

Tucanae Services said...

Ozone hole was real. The cause was not totally proven but we banned cfc in the US. Sigh.

WuFlu? Do people realize that the 1918 Spanish Flu is still with us? Its in all our blood streams. That's a 100 years ago. This current WuFlu will be contacted by everyone so prepare yourself to be added to the list. You may have to self-quarantine yourself. Do you have the supplies to stay home for nearly a month? Most don't.

Jennifer said...

Abstinence only sex education and trickle down economics are total bullshit.