Media Hysteria

I am stunned by the media attention on Bird Flu.

Don’t get me wrong, it is very concerning (although somewhat predictable) that it has hit our shores. The potential impact on the poultry industry is devastating. But let’s retain a sense of perspective.

Almost all the media is talking about how “deadly” it is. Yes, it is deadly. To birds. Hence the clever term “Bird Flu”. But so far it has been deadly to one swan. Given the hysterical tone to a lot of the coverage in the media, anyone would have thought that there had been an outbreak of a virulent, killer disease that affects humans. No. Death toll in the UK so far – one swan.

Yes, it could transfer to humans. But we could also be struck by a meteorite. We could be killed by a dirty bomb. Hell, aliens could invade and enslave humanity. But in general we don’t worry about those things as they haven’t happened and are unlikely to happen.

H5N1 needs to change in order to affect humans. And in order to be at risk, realistically you need to be handling infected poultry. The vast majority of people in this country have nothing to worry about. Those most at risk are the poultry farmers – and what they are at risk from is damage to their livelihoods. Headlines ranting about “Deadly” Bird Flu are hysterical and unhelpful. It is scaremongering of the worst kind.

Likewise we need a debate on immigration, but the hate filled front page of the Express does not help.

My point is this – we demand that our politicians, our police, our health service, our judiciary all take responsibility for our actions. It is time to expect the same from the media. Actually, it is time to demand the same from our media. They let us know what is going on the world, and we should demand that the information is clear, informed, educational and informative. Not hysterical, prurient and ignorant.