Media fuels swine panic

Images of parents and restless children lined up in local malls drive home the underlying seriousness of this flu. People are dying at an alarming rate, felled by the most serious threat to humanity since the last smallpox epidemic, or worse, the Black Death, right?

Wrong.

It’s just the flu!

And no matter how many doctors and other respected health professionals assure us that the only people dying are those with “underlying medical conditions” that are further complicated by the flu, the media are playing up the whole affair as if a deadly plague were sweeping across the land. Instead of focusing on the lack of a need to panic, they dedicate their front pages or a large chunk of air time to the issue of swine flu vaccines and its many related stories — a nice, ongoing human drama that feeds itself.

The more people see TV news images of long queues at their local mall, the more likely they are to think that this is indeed a very serious health threat and they, too, should be out there waiting for a shot. This of course leads to longer lines, more news reports, and the whole thing goes on in one long vicious circle of panic. Few seem to realize that most people won't have access to the vaccine until next month, which means it's more convenient and less stressful to suffer through the flu and have it done with.

Moreover, H1N1 is big business, which means a lot of people out there discourage any idea of downplaying the danger to the general population.

The media and their audiences always need some kind of villain to keep them interested. From terrorism to crooked financial advisors, one big thing constantly replaces another — so no matter how absurd it seems, we'll be stuck with this swine flu panic until the next big thing comes along and the mainstream media focuses our attention elsewhere.