I went to Bemidji State University after getting an Associate of Arts degree at what is now known as M-State Fergus Falls. After I earned Mass Communications with a Broadcasting/Journalism Emphasis degree I felt I learned a lot there. 25 years later I realize how much I learned. While you are sitting in lectures you don’t realize as a 20 year-old punk the wisdom these instructors are giving you until you get out in “the real world.” So now that I have been in and out of the media for a quarter of a century I have to say to you, the consumer of the national media, I am sorry. I am sorry how the national media is using shock and awe to acquire viewers, readers, listeners and clicks to their website during a pandemic, but to also put fear in you to get you to tune in or purchase an article because you are craving information in a panic. It reminds me of a meteorologist that makes it sound like a snowflake will bring us a seven-day blizzard. That is why at KFGO Tom Szymanski and the rest of our staff preach to prepare you for the weather, not to scare you with it.
Why am I ripping on the national media? Well the first reason is because every story makes every death just sound like a stat, not realizing these are people we are talking about. Secondly, the numbers that come out fall under the category of “if it bleeds it leads.” I am not trying to downplay the severity of the COVID-19. It is serious. As someone who is an obese 47 year old I know this could kill me. So if I die of COVID-19 I want to make it clear, I took it seriously. If I die, don’t post on social media I thought it was a hoax, because I didn’t. With that said, the narrative in the reports that are pounded in your brain minute by minute make it sound like if you test positive for COVID -19 it is a death sentence for all, which is far from the truth. It doesn’t make the loss of a loved one any better, but the high recovery rate, even with no symptoms is high.
The bottom line is, don’t let the shock and awe of mass media pushing the big numbers freak you out and have your jaw drop to the floor. Keep in mind, when you hear a news outlet say like I did Sunday, “Now over 190,000 thousand people have died of COVID -19 in the world,” which would be going back to November; according to the World Health Organization’s website, 155,000 to 166,000 thousand die EVERY DAY in the world on average over the last 10 years. Again, I am not trying to minimize COVID -19, but the big numbers aren’t as big if you put them into the context of 7.6 billion people in the world. If you want to argue, “well that is more deaths,” I would argue that we don’t know for sure if it is or isn’t death from COVID with the lack of testing for the deceased. If it were 100% of those we know were COVID deaths, over a five month period it would be 1266 more people a day, which would be only a 0.6% increase throughout the world.
Looking at the United States, according to CDC.gov 2.8 million people died in the country in 2018, meaning an average of 7671 a day. So while as I am writing this, over of 47 thousand have died so far of COVID-19 according to the CDC and it is growing, the reality of our mortality has been there with or without a pandemic with some big numbers, 47,000 divided by 7671 is equal to 6 normal days of mortality in the US. If the headlines on the national news were 7671 died yesterday in the United States, every hour on the hour, the consumer would be saying, “Oh my goodness, why did so many die?” Sadly, people die, that is just a fact.
The other media narrative, because they are just echoing what the governmental agencies are pushing a TESTING, TESTING, TESTING narrative to find statistics to open up the country again. Testing for COVID -19 as much as possible daily for those that are sick, elderly, those at risk, for antibodies, front-line healthcare workers, long-term senior living facility workers, and for any other workers who could infect the elderly and vulnerable makes sense; but to correlate it to whether or not to open up business restrictions is beyond ridiculous. The main reason why, as world renowned infectious disease epidemiologist, Michael T. Osterholm, also director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. said on Joel Heitkamp’s show on KFGO, that the models we see from these officials on the big stage aren’t accurate, and as he said on Dave Lee’s radio show on WCCO, April, 13, “Anyone who promises we are going to get out of this with testing, don’t listen to much to what they have to tell you.”
Think about it. You can’t test everyone in the country or a state at one time. If your workplace tests you and your coworkers on a Monday, and everyone turns out negative, but you go to a grocery store and someone infects you, you can go to work the next day, infect the whole workplace and everyone will think they are fine because they got tested 24 hours earlier. That makes the narrative of “testing to find out who has it and who doesn’t so we can go back to work” is the equivalent of a dog chasing his tail, ESPECIALLY with so many walking around asymptomatic. Actually it is downright dangerous because people will test negative and have a false sense of security. It should have no meaning in opening up or not because the models, stats and formulas are washed out by the fact you aren’t immune to infection just because you got tested once. I can’t fathom why the government officials are pushing that narrative on us and why reporters aren’t realizing it to ask more questions. Think about it, if you test 200 people and only ten are positive, the 190 negative tests are only as good as the moment you get the result unless you are not in contact with anyone until the virus disappears from the world. I can’t believe the government is feeding that to the American people and I can’t believe the American people aren’t questioning it.
I can’t apologize enough for the lack of journalism in this country right now. The only thing that is positive from what I am seeing from the media on the national level, is that my education at Bemidji State University in the Mass Communications/Journalism department did not go to waste because I can spot what not to do. It is bad enough that people are so politically gas-lighted on the pro-President Trump or anti-President Trump side, but now because of it in a crisis people’s common sense and math skills have gone out the door; especially when it comes to this testing narrative from the Trump team in the daily briefings, the governors around the country and the media pounding it into our brains that “testing will get the country open again.”
The media is supposed to be the “Fourth Estate” keeping the executive, legislative and judicial branches in check. Instead the media is just being a blow-horn for them depending on what side politically they are on. Part of the reason is, and I have heard it a lot during this pandemic, both the media and the consumers of media say, “Trust the experts.” No, it is our job to question the experts, even if they have a “Dr.” title in front of their name. If you do question them both entities will label you as a conspiracy theorist. That is not the case. It is our responsibility to ask questions, and not just push a political narrative. That is the problem, MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News are not legitimate news sources; they are political talk shows on cable television. Furthermore most of what we have now with the national news media, whether it is electronic, or print, is not journalism, it is “infotainment.” The consumer is to blame because instead of critical thinking when they hear a news story they just absorb it like a sponge. Even worse they look for the answers they want because of their political bias, not asking questions looking for the answers they need even if it may not fit their ideology.
As Dr. Osterholm says, COVID-19 is going to be around for 16 to 18 months and there is not one curve shown with the details I explained above. There will be waves of positive cases up and down, but we have to learn to live with it. A miracle vaccine that is 100% proof positive cure isn’t coming anytime soon. With that said we can’t just open up the state or country irresponsibly, I think Georgia’s Governor was reckless last week the way he opened up the state; I hope it goes well without many sick or dying. On that point, this thing has gotten so political I can’t get over it. Those extremes, not all but some extremes of “Pro-Trump” people calling this a hoax, and the extreme haters of President Trump sharing stories to fit their narrative, deaths in “Red States” or anything negative about Sweden not having as many restrictions drive me nuts. So you mean to tell me you are hoping for death and sickness to prove a political point? I am glad I don’t follow either of these political parties. If I did, it obviously would take away any common sense I have from what I have seen this month. The leadership in this country from the top down, regardless of party or the non-political officials has been a down-right embarrassment, and it is time Republicans, Democrats and moderates understand it.
This country will need to slowly start opening in early May because all we are doing now is kicking the can down the road, but do it safely and save as many lives as we can. Antibody tests are coming back from California and New York are showing we are doing a slow version of herd immunity in this country with a lower fatality rate. These mitigation orders coming from Governors are not slowing the spread as much as the leaders want to tell you because of the flawed model I mentioned before and everyone is funneling into grocery and box stores while others are closed, so the “Stay at Home” orders or in the case of North Dakota have been ineffective to stop the spread, and more these antibody tests are proving it.
We can make an “open” state function and work together as the elderly, sick and vulnerable will be at home more. We can get groceries for them, take-out for them, or whatever they will need so they don’t have to go out and about. This will be something I will work on when the states open. If we are civil to each other, keep physical distancing, if we can be responsible, we can make this work safely and sensibly. There is no need to be a “COVIDIOT,” gathering in large close masses when we open up and we don’t need “COVID Bullies” yelling at other’s behavior choices. We must think clearly without living in fear, and let the politics of this not cloud our common sense.
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