I am anti-capitalist, yeah - which far-right talking points am I repeating? Obviously I’m not perfect and we’re all susceptible to propaganda etc. so if you can point out what it is I’ve written that seems to support the far-right it would be very helpful!
I’ve not got anything against people wearing masks, clearly it’s helpful for reducing the spread of COVID, flu, etc. - I wrote elsewhere in this thread that I think it would be good to see people wearing masks more commonly around flu season as well.
I do think the article is sensationalist, though - it implies that there is broad scientific consensus that masks should be mandated again, but when you read it, it’s just a single tweet containing the opinion that it’s a good idea to wear a mask if you’re going to be in a crowded place.
What generates clicks?
Sensationalist, anxiety-inducing headlines from news websites - particularly ones which desperately want COVID (or some other pandemic) to return in force. Do you remember all of the media frenzy around monkeypox a few months ago? That’s a really good example. There’s this pervasive sense that the press are almost hoping for some horrible new pandemic or for COVID to mutate in a way that makes it much more virulent, just so that they can get more clicks.
To answer your question, while you didn’t say it outright, your response makes a likely inference to be that you believe COVID reporting was overblown to generate revenue.
That is the far-right taking point they are most likely referring to.
The number of hospitalizations and deaths is a statistic that was tracked and the far-right lead a campaign to discredit those statistics. Later, the far-right lead a campaign to say that vaccination should have resulted in full immunity, which it was never reported to do, in an effort to discredit scientists and make their followers feel validated in their decision to not vaccinate.
I don’t believe that reporting about the pandemic was overblown at the time that the pandemic was a public health crisis, actually I believe it was underreported, quite significantly.
However, I believe that the combination of the huge uncertainty, people desperately trying to keep up to date, people being off work or working from home, the huge amount of conversation around COVID news stories, etc. that the news websites got an unprecedented amount of traffic, clicks and revenue, and since that has tapered off, they’re basically like an addict desperate for a fix. They’ll present any minor COVID news, no matter how inconsequential, as a far bigger issue than it really is.
I don’t really believe that COVID will make a resurgence, but if it does, I’ll be there encouraging people to wear a mask. But I’m not gonna freak out and declare a state of emergency because a researcher tweeted some toilet thought.
The pushback against the perfectly sensible responses to the pandemic was orchestrated by far-right political entities as a way to rally their supporters against “the oppressive left-wing/liberal agenda to control and exploit you!”.
I am anti-capitalist, yeah - which far-right talking points am I repeating? Obviously I’m not perfect and we’re all susceptible to propaganda etc. so if you can point out what it is I’ve written that seems to support the far-right it would be very helpful!
I think because you seem to be agreeing with the poster who is against masking? But I’m not sure because his post is removed now.
When you said
What generates clicks?
I’m just asking because the post you were responding to got removed so I’m missing context
I’ve not got anything against people wearing masks, clearly it’s helpful for reducing the spread of COVID, flu, etc. - I wrote elsewhere in this thread that I think it would be good to see people wearing masks more commonly around flu season as well.
I do think the article is sensationalist, though - it implies that there is broad scientific consensus that masks should be mandated again, but when you read it, it’s just a single tweet containing the opinion that it’s a good idea to wear a mask if you’re going to be in a crowded place.
Sensationalist, anxiety-inducing headlines from news websites - particularly ones which desperately want COVID (or some other pandemic) to return in force. Do you remember all of the media frenzy around monkeypox a few months ago? That’s a really good example. There’s this pervasive sense that the press are almost hoping for some horrible new pandemic or for COVID to mutate in a way that makes it much more virulent, just so that they can get more clicks.
Thanks for the explanation. I responded to you in another comment thread about this stuff so I won’t respond again here.
To answer your question, while you didn’t say it outright, your response makes a likely inference to be that you believe COVID reporting was overblown to generate revenue.
That is the far-right taking point they are most likely referring to.
The number of hospitalizations and deaths is a statistic that was tracked and the far-right lead a campaign to discredit those statistics. Later, the far-right lead a campaign to say that vaccination should have resulted in full immunity, which it was never reported to do, in an effort to discredit scientists and make their followers feel validated in their decision to not vaccinate.
I don’t believe that reporting about the pandemic was overblown at the time that the pandemic was a public health crisis, actually I believe it was underreported, quite significantly.
However, I believe that the combination of the huge uncertainty, people desperately trying to keep up to date, people being off work or working from home, the huge amount of conversation around COVID news stories, etc. that the news websites got an unprecedented amount of traffic, clicks and revenue, and since that has tapered off, they’re basically like an addict desperate for a fix. They’ll present any minor COVID news, no matter how inconsequential, as a far bigger issue than it really is.
I don’t really believe that COVID will make a resurgence, but if it does, I’ll be there encouraging people to wear a mask. But I’m not gonna freak out and declare a state of emergency because a researcher tweeted some toilet thought.
The pushback against the perfectly sensible responses to the pandemic was orchestrated by far-right political entities as a way to rally their supporters against “the oppressive left-wing/liberal agenda to control and exploit you!”.