"Why COVID-19 is not the problem" (but the sensationalized reporting and ignorant reactionary humans sure are!) "So why is so much attention being paid to COVID-19? First, because it’s new, and spreading. But as Max Fisher wrote in the New York Times, COVID-19 “hits nearly every cognitive trigger we have.” Its novelty and the uncertainty around it override the recognition that other diseases, including flu, are far more endemic and dangerous. He likens the reaction to that after a plane crash, when people shun flying even though a crash is an anomaly and flying is overwhelmingly safe. And social media spreads the rumors, fake cures, and other untruths that we won’t link to, but include words like “genocide” and “Zionist conspiracy.” Journalists have the responsibility to put things in context. Cover COVID-19 and its effects, be they economic, physical, or social. But acknowledge its place in the pantheon of disease. Reporting as if it were the end of the world is an epidemic of a different kind." https://www.cjr.org/language_corner/covid-19-coronavirus.php