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Coronavirus

LeeToRainesToRoach said:
Essential information undermined amid journalist point-scoring
Chris Kenny
The Australian
March 16, 2020

The lack of maturity and common sense from some journalists covering the coronavirus pandemic has reached fever pitch. Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt, quite rightly, used an appearance on the ABC’s Insiders to suggest people listen to medical advice rather than pronouncements from “armchair” experts, particularly citing 10 Network’s Peter van Onselen, who also writes for this newspaper.

Hunt is right. The behaviour of many journalists in pointscoring, adding to confusion and seeking gotcha moments is extraordinary.

It is as if they are so used to one-upmanship that they have no concept of a real national crisis.

On Insiders journalists argued whether the right procedures had been put in place over one infection — that of Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton — whether his colleagues should have been tested or his offices fumigated. They also debated the on-again and off-again attendance of Scott Morrison at a footy match as if it were a matter of national significance.

Yes, at times my colleagues at Sky have been doing the same, and the ABC, of course, has been the worst.

The public knows this will be a long and tough winter, that the virus will spread, and that each infection needs to be treated calmly and rationally. And they see a media preoccupied with making political points or settling scores.

We are overwhelmed with information and most people are preparing for possible isolation in a largely calm and rational manner. Yet many journalists seem to be demanding that government provides minute-by-minute instruction for everyone on how to live their lives.

ABC television host Yumi Stynes tweeted that people should keep their children home from school, issuing instructions she thinks should come from government. Van Onselen, too, has been busy tweeting his health advice. We are seeing Twitter dumb down crisis management in the same way it has cheapened politics.

On Saturday night one of the ABC’s stable of comedians-cum-political commentators, Charlie Pickering, tweeted that he was proud to be part of the ABC because it was “filling the void with some certainty and trust”.

The reason for this public burst of pride was contained in a YouTube video he attached.

It was a “coronavirus community service announcement” issued by the ABC — a simple presentation from health reporter and physician Dr Norman Swan.

It was promoting the ABC as a trusted news source and providing basic advice about how to avoid virus infection through personal hygiene. It also advised people to seek information from websites and go to a doctor if sick.

So Pickering was proud to be part of an organisation with an annual $1.1bn taxpayer-funded budget that was capable of producing a one-minute promotional video three months into a global crisis. The video came 47 days after Australia’s first infection and 12 days after our first fatality.

But Pickering wasn’t the only one feeling the pride; ABC’s breakfast TV host Michael Rowland shared the YouTube clip and, rather presumptuously, declared on our behalf: “The nation thanks you, Norman.”

The executive producer of 7.30, Justin Stevens, said Swan “has emerged as an important voice of clear advice on coronavirus”. As Swan has presented the Health Report for more than 35 years, if he has emerged during the coronavirus threat, he’s a late bloomer.

Wasn’t this the sort of information that was being pumped out daily by commercial media, politicians, health experts and government websites?

On Saturday morning Q&A host Hamish McDonald tweeted it was “completely bewildering that still at this stage Australia does not have a mass public information campaign” on the pandemic. Rowland tweeted the same day, “Where is the coronavirus public health campaign?”

Now we are starting to get a clue. The previous day Labor attacked the government for not unfurling its paid public information campaign, which had been revealed in The Daily Telegraph a week earlier and announced a few days later.

Still, by this time the public health advertisements were already airing; they began on commercial radio in Sydney on Friday, the very day Labor was complaining. This was 24 hours before those ABC tweets wondered when they would start. Over the weekend, video versions were revealed.

It seems the political attacks on the government about the delay in providing an information campaign explain the excitement and faux praise for Swan’s video.

Could an organisation gifted enormous taxpayer support to provide clear, factual information, only manage to produce a one-minute video, 47 days into a public health emergency, not in order to fulfil its charter but rather to embarrass the government? What else explains the timing and praise?

Could publicly funded journalists be so puerile as to use their Twitter accounts to snipe at the PM over whether he was going to the football, seek to pre-empt decisions the government might take on medical advice, or make inane quips about the lack of a government advertising campaign when their job is supposed to be about effective communication of important information?

With daily factual updates available on www.health.gov.au, almost daily media conferences from the Health Minister, Prime Minister and Chief Medical Officer, and myriad other health experts available to discuss these issues, could any publicly funded journalist really claim there was a lack of information about an evolving global health crisis?

If there is a lack of information, doesn’t it demonstrate the media was either failing at its task or desperate to make pathetic partisan points at a time of genuine crisis?

Pretty much the only reason the government would need to spend additional taxpayer money on a public information campaign in this unprecedented age of digital communications, is because the media, especially the publicly-funded media, might be incapable of circulating dispassionate and useful information.

Instead of calm and rational use of their media platforms to amplify advice from doctors and health officials, ABC journalists and others, have taken to Twitter to lash out at the government and offer their own homespun recommendations.

A certain level of Morrison Derangement Syndrome has infected the Australian media.

It is a politically contagious virus that has mutated from Trump Derangement Syndrome.

The syndrome is most rampant in those who wish to portray themselves as “woke” and the severity of the symptoms increases in direct proportion to how emphatically the sufferers predicted a Labor victory at the last election.

At a time of genuine national crisis, we deserve better.

The response from government and other authorities will continue to evolve as we balance slowing the spread of the virus against bringing our entire country to a halt. But all of this is going to be a whole lot harder if journalists behave this poorly.
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Chris Kenny is a total f*ckhead who feels it's always OK to pass on his expert opinions whenever the hell he feels like it. A meaningless swipe at the ABC as well.

I only skimmed it but even that was a waste of time.
 
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puerile piece of journalism. just an attack on abc.
the complaints he made were no different to what has been written in this thread
 
I’m glad that WW, Coles and Aldi to assist with the elderly and Disabled.


Starting tomorrow.

Though the time might be tough for some between 7-8 am !
 
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Baloo said:
The problem with betting on short term deaths is that there is a real risk that the countries medical infra will collapse. Looking at Northern Italy as the example, people with other medical emergencies like strokes, heart attacks etc etc are just not getting any attention because the hospitals are inundated with COVID-19 patients.
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I can only assume they form part of the overall casulaties predicted when the UK decided to go down the herd immunity route?

Huge calls being made.
 
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LeeToRainesToRoach said:
If you're planning on doing online shopping, be aware that there's a delay for deliveries. On Thursday at Coles Online the earliest delivery window was next Thursday. IGA Online was malfunctioning and presumably couldn't cope with the traffic. Plan ahead and maybe place your next order after you receive a delivery.
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All Coles deliveries booked from Thursday onwards cancelled.

To mask up, or not to mask up...
 
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Went to WW 7am this morning .... nuthin.

Bus loads of masked bandits cleaning out rural stores now.
 
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Flew back from Sydney today, all airlines are condescending flights into jammed packed plans. You can feel the tension.

Hearing by weeks end all domestic travel will be grounded.
 
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Harry said:
Went to WW 7am this morning .... nuthin.

Bus loads of masked bandits cleaning out rural stores now.
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A friend of mine had 2 blokes offer to sell him toilet paper out of the boot of their cars outside the supermarket in Daylesford. Dogs!
 
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There's so much confusion and grey areas on how bad this virus is, it's laughable. Listening to non-stop media is creating depression in some people along with the sheep over purchasing like its the end of the world.

If anyone wants to believe in media-hype and stats, then if China's figures are dropping what are the rest doing?

Every 'expert' now reckons they've got a cure. Where is it?

Nothing's for certain it's going to peak in our winter just because it's winter. Sitting and waiting just doesn't help IMO.

The whole world is under the thumb just about.
 
Sorry to dampen the conversation but I must say having watched Doc Larkin on 360 tonight and his rundown on what's coming, made me feel pretty sad.

No doubt we've all got different challenges ahead, so don't forget if you're feeling like *smile* at the moment, make sure you reach out for help if you need it.

Learn about mental health - Beyond Blue - Beyond Blue

1 in 2 Australians struggle with mental health during their lifetime. Learn to look after your social and emotional wellbeing and support others.
www.beyondblue.org.au www.beyondblue.org.au
 
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Chris Kenny, what an idiot, I'll try and remember never to read anything he writes, it was my first exposure to such stupidity.

Has a go at media after stating the media is preoccupied with scoring political points. What are you doing Chris if not running a political agenda of your own?

What a f***wit.

DS
 
I've gone on about how thorough the contact trace is here. Today we've had their highest number of daily cases, 17.

Here's a link to report that comes daily. It's with this level of detail and understanding that makes me feel relatively safe here:

16 Mar 2020
 
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LeeToRainesToRoach said:
All good, I'm not sick sick. No cough, muscle pain or breathing problems.

How easy or difficult is it to get tested in France at the moment?
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In France the process is call the ambulance hotline 15, which will direct you to the hospital doing the checks. All local clinics have signs saying they dont do testing.

Hard to tell for sure because we havent used it, and have avoided the hospital.
We came close Monday week ago as our son had asthma which stemmed from a cold so we prepared to go to the pediatric emergency. The CV was a complication.

Current news is that the hospitals in the Alsace region are full. Any more CV patients will cause an overload.
 
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Baloo said:
I've gone on about how thorough the contact trace is here. Today we've had their highest number of daily cases, 17.

Here's a link to report that comes daily. It's with this level of detail and understanding that makes me feel relatively safe here:

16 Mar 2020
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Do you wear a face mask in public, Baloo? Does the government supply them? Or at least recommend them?
 
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