Is There Something Worse Than Fake News?

BeatingTheBodyPoliticToAPulp
WithIt'sOwnFistsVille


Back in the days when we lived in the Excited States I listened to way too much NPR.

In case you haven't had the pleasure, it's kinda/sorta like the CBC nationally, although the local stuff varies widely based on the station which is something that you don't find much on the Canuckistanian MoCo.

These days, I still tune in to NPR with some regularity, especially to listen to a guy named Brian Lehrer on WNYC to get a dose of his no-nonsense poli-talk, much of it hyper-local.

So, Tuesday afternoon, just before I headed out of the lab into the slush for the trek home, I plugged into WNYC briefly to see what was up in Iowa.

Instead of anything caucusorial I instead caught a national segment on 'All Things Considered' which is kind of like 'As It Happens' only with more features.

The bit I caught today focused on how Americans feel about their government's response to coronavirus outbreak.

Heckfire, there was even a breathy, and most serious straight-faced description of a poll!

'Two-thirds of Americans say the novel coronavirus poses a "real threat" and has not been "blown out of proportion."

And, though the majority of Americans are concerned about the potential spread of the virus within the U.S., 61% also say U.S. government officials are doing enough to prevent it.

The findings come from a NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll released Tuesday...

{snip}

...The poll finds that Americans aged 45 or older are much more likely to be concerned about the spread of the virus to their communities compared to younger Americans...'

Gosh.

I wonder what fraction of that 61% was an epidemiologist, or a virologist, or an infectious disease specialist, millenial or otherwise?

Now.

Fake news is one thing, but stupid news masquerading as smart, edgy, agey stuff that matters...

How dumb is that?


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