Red Hander
LE

Covid - 19 is obviously a serious matter. However, I contend the media (print, broadcast and online) is making it much worse.
At a time when we need people to be calm, the media is picking up the stories which make things seem bad, and constantly repeating them - queues at a wholesaler; empty shelves; one fight over a toilet roll shown over and again. Panic buying is a creation of the media - fodder for a 24 hour news cycle. The media creates the scenes it wants to portray - life imitating art.
Worse, the media is in my view actively seeking to undermine government advice - point scoring in some cases. Agenda-driven in others: The Guardian for example seeing an opportunity to politicise the Covid outbreak, with a view to seeing the fall of the government.
We obviously need a free press. We need a diversity of thought and opinion. There are times (now) where we also need the media to behave responsibly; to recognise and work towards the national interest. To support HMG even, in what is and should remain a non-political issue.
How can the media improve how it handles Covid?
Is this an issue? Do we need broadcasters to help the country, or just to chase ratings and content?
At a time when we need people to be calm, the media is picking up the stories which make things seem bad, and constantly repeating them - queues at a wholesaler; empty shelves; one fight over a toilet roll shown over and again. Panic buying is a creation of the media - fodder for a 24 hour news cycle. The media creates the scenes it wants to portray - life imitating art.
Worse, the media is in my view actively seeking to undermine government advice - point scoring in some cases. Agenda-driven in others: The Guardian for example seeing an opportunity to politicise the Covid outbreak, with a view to seeing the fall of the government.
We obviously need a free press. We need a diversity of thought and opinion. There are times (now) where we also need the media to behave responsibly; to recognise and work towards the national interest. To support HMG even, in what is and should remain a non-political issue.
How can the media improve how it handles Covid?
Is this an issue? Do we need broadcasters to help the country, or just to chase ratings and content?