Thursday, April 06, 2006

Run for your lives - it's BIRD FLU!
















Bird flu has come to Fife!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4881850.stm

Already I've seen the big, red, and block letter headlines in the tabloids. I've heard the water cooler talk ("better avoid chicken", "maybe we shouldn't go to the countryside"). Have I missed something? This has got to be one of the biggest non-stories in quite some time.

But the media love it. People are tired of hearing about the atrocities in Iraq (More killings? The war still illegal? The Bush administration is still a group of corrupt scumbags?). British politics are a bit too boring lately (Blair - Brown rift? Heard it!). Disease outbreak stories are exciting, but most of them are old news that don't sell papers. AIDS in Africa - same old, right? But bird flu? Brilliant - everybody loves a good story!

So we get articles that contain the basic facts, but are lead with sensational tales prefixed with keywords such as "potentially", "could", or "may" to ensure the report is journalistically sound. The result is gems like "may result into a pandemic, potentially putting millions of lives at risk".
And you better keep your eye on your pets too:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4878868.stm

Blair must love all of this - all of a sudden, Labour corruption and the ongoing saga of Iraq gets bumped out of the headlines. I suppose there is always a possibility that he had poor Gordon drop that swan off himself. His riding is in Fife after all, and that may explain why Mr. Brown is so grumpy with ol' Tony lately. Or not.

Anyway, been to any good concerts lately?

No comments: