The article you attached is not easy to understand. It requires careful attention, but it is pretty much saying what you say. I think part of the problem is that usually the journalists who write the news stories don’t write the headlines. Headlines are usually written by specialists who are good at clever or short headlines and who know what will make people want to read more. They usually don’t have time to read the entire article because they may need to write a hundred headlines a day. So they scan the first paragraph or two. I’m not certain, but I think that is what happened here.
However, those who say newspapers and, much worse, television news provide alarmist news and reports to keep you watching through the next advertisement are definitely right. This isn’t a new thing! If you watch movies about the newspaper business from the 1930s, you see the same thing. The worst is the “click-bait” that surrounds a lot of online articles. You click on those and descend into a labyrinth of scam as you try to hop from photo to photo.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoodLife
Sounds scary doesn't it? But it's a flat out lie meant to scare you. Panic Porn
That's the headline the Orlando Sentinel went with today, and they opened the story with this.
Florida reported 120 new COVID-19 fatalities on Thursday — the single biggest daily increase — pushing the death toll past 4,000 and coming after weeks of exploding coronavirus cases across the state.
Florida reports 120 COVID-19 fatalities, its deadliest day of pandemic - Orlando Sentinel
Here is the graph they presented charting Florida deaths.
Attachment 85176
Wow...very scary, deaths are rising must be that surge of new cases.
The problem with the Sentinel's headline and chart is there were only 9 deaths from covid 19 on Thursday. The rest of the 120 deaths were from previous dates and to make a correct chart you have to backfill reported deaths to the date they actually happened. I am pretty sure they know this but 120 deaths in a single day just makes for great panic porn headlines.
Here is a correct chart with deaths listed on the actual day they happened.
Attachment 85177
So far total of 135 deaths in July for Florida. This number will rise as deaths by actual date are backfilled. It takes time for deaths to be coded at hospitals, sent to the county, then the State and CDC.
It's unfortunate that we can't trust media reports on just about anything. |