I want to point out why certain forces with a -- how do I put this? -- "narrative agenda" are making it difficult for people to do the right thing during this crisis.
Here is the headline from a prominent article on Fox News' website this morning:
WHO guidance: Healthy people should wear masks only when 'taking care of' coronavirus patients
I know many people don't bother to read more than the headline of an article, but if they read the first graph it states in unequivocal terms that you do not need to wear a mask unless you are actively taking care of someone who is exhibiting symptoms.
I mean, there you have it. The world's leading body saying don't wear a mask to prevent the spread; don't wear a mask to go shopping; you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a COVID-sick loved one. If you were even thinking about not wearing a mask, this would be all the proof you would need to scoff at the health experts in the US who say otherwise.
As I said, most people only read the headline. A few more read the first graph. It is a much smaller percentage who read even further into the body of the story to discover that the advice being cited by Fox from the WHO comes from a video posted on the WHO website IN FEBRUARY (the Fox article says it was posted in March, but
I found the original video and it is marked as posted on 2/29).
Our understanding of the virus, how it is spread, and how it can be contained has advanced light years since late February. But, here is Fox touting it as if it is some new revelation and using it to encourage folks to not wear masks. As most of you know, I am a journalist and this article is journalistic malpractice.
And, as you can probably imagine, many other outlets see it on Fox and just parrot what it has to say, often with disastrous results.
The NY Post has copied the Fox story onto their website without changing a word, further spreading this misleading story. Here is a
conservative talk radio website that reports the story and omits the fact that the video is months old. It even says the video was posted on the WHO site today. I am sure there are plenty of talk radio talking heads who are speaking about this on their programs and I have no doubt the story (headline only because who clicks and reads the whole thing?!?!) is making its way around Twitter and Facebook today.
I don't know how we, as a society, fight this kind of misinformation. There are millions of Americans who will see this headline today and see it as some new guidance they should follow. Wearing a mask is uncomfortable. Here is a story that allows you to take the easy way and leave your mask behind as you embark out into the world. Woo hoo! Let's go party!!
I discovered all this when a DBR COVID-skeptic emailed the article to me this morning, gleefully encouraging me to post it here to counter some folks who refer to mask skeptics as "covidiots." So, I took a look at discovered how terribly misleading the story was. I have followed his advice though and posted the article... but with the necessary context for all of you to understand why it actually is an important story... though not the story he expected it to be.
Sigh... I want to be clear that I take no joy in this. I just want everyone to be safe and for us to beat the !@#^@&^! out of this virus. Sadly, I think misleading stories like this one make that less and less likely.