NPR - You let me down on this swine flu thing.


I expect more from NPR and dang it all they let me down big time with their EXCESSIVE coverage of the Swine Flu dealio. Did I say "excessive" - is there a word that is more excessive than excessive? If there is, then please say it to yourself and apply it to the bombardment of swine flu coverage on NPR.
The coup de gras was yesterday.
They reported on the lady in Texas who died while suffering from swine flu. DISCLAIMER: Before I go any further, let me say that I am very sorry this lady lost her life - no matter what the cause. I empathize with her family and friends and would not wish an untimely death on anyone. With that said, you notice NPR told us that the lady died WHILE she had swine flu - not necessarily because of it. It seems she had some other physical problems - an AP story labeled her as having "chronic medical conditions" as did the young boy who died earlier WHILE he had the swine flu.
During the course of the story the head of the Center for Disease Control was interviewed. He mentioned that last year some 36,000 people in the US died with or because of having regular old influenza. THIRTY SIX THOUSAND PEOPLE.
I work in a town with a population of four thousand. So, nine times as many people as there are in Lowell Michigan died last year with regular old influenza. Take your calculator and that works out to a little more than 98 people every ding dang freakin' day. Now that sounds like an epidemic to me.
It is no wonder the average 'Merican doesn't know what the heck is going on. Our media goes ape shit about a person who reportedly has "chronic medical conditions" and dies whilst having swine flu. Meanwhile there are 98 people who die every day with influenza.
Why NPR had to jump on this band wagon is a mystery. I understand that all the "news" organizations like CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, etc. etc. all spend so much time covering each other in order to make sure that they all bring us the same platter of "news" every minute of every hour. They are so afraid of being "scooped" that they all serve up the same portion of news and information.
Somehow I thought NPR was above all that scrubbling - guess I was wrong.

Comments

LA Slugocki said…
I LOVE the picture. It's hysterical. LAS
July 21, 2009 at 9:39 AM
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