Things Are Bad
A plea for moderation in a time of insanity.
We know things are bad.
We are told on a daily basis how bad things are. Hourly news updates have become a string of worrying comments about the newest person infected or event shut down by the coronavirus. Broadcast news mostly focuses on school closings, press conferences from government officials, and guidelines about what to do and how to act. They note the rapidly closing nature of American public spaces, with a new example of strict social distancing rules arising every night.
These reports are understandable. They come from the “hard news” side of many outlets. These outlets have a duty to report the news that happens so that people are able to react and respond accordingly. On the whole, the news media has done an admirable job reporting the latest developments from a wide variety of sources and angles, from different government reports to new updates on how the virus develops and progresses. Tens of millions of Americans are receiving the news they need as quickly as they need it.
But what is more problematic is the response by the opinion side of today’s news ecosystem, which may end up causing more harm than it prevents.
The coronavirus is a problem that challenges the media. It is simply an unknown factor in a wide variety of…
