Swine Flu: Why the Panic?

The story that has dominated public interest for the past couple of weeks has been the emergence of the swine flu. Cable news programs, newspapers, and blogs have all been completely enamored by this story. Not because it is one of the biggest threats to all people everywhere, like they make it out to be, but because it is the "hot," "new" story that audiences can not seem to get enough of and will continue to consume.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention lists that the regular influenza kills an estimated 36,000 people every year and is 8th place on the American kill list, behind such notorious killers as cancer, heart disease, and stroke. However, news networks fail to mention these glaring statistics when they discuss swine flu. The New York Times reported that swine flu has produced a measly 160 cases in America and has yielded only one death but you'd never know it listening to recent news coverage. All of this points to an issue discussed in class, that news stories simply need to be "new" for people to pay attention. The regular flu is almost an afterthought in people's minds. 36,000 deaths a year but the media is worked into hysteria over a sickness that has caused one death. It doesn't seem to make sense.

And with the heightened sense of public interest on the topic, public schools have been closed, sporting events have been held behind closed doors, and politicians have voiced their opinions while scaring the public even more. Public schools in many districts nationwide have closed because of swine flu fears, including all 144 schools in the Fort Worth, TX school district. In Mexico this past weekend, all professional soccer matches were held without fans. These stories only add to a hype that has been way overblown. And, when you have Vice President Joe Biden on the Today Show warning people not to fly in planes, or ride in subways to avoid the disease, it only pours more gasoline onto an already blazing fire.

All in all, I believe the recent swine flu mania has been blown way out of proportion. While I still feel it is a legitimate news story worthy of some attention, I do not believe it is healthy for people to be faced with swine flu being front page news every single day. The reality is that it this disease is still lightyears away from being something we should be legitimately afraid of. We must realize that it is the news companies' objective to highlight new phenomenons and to report them as if we must pay attention to them and keep coming back for new updates. Let me know when swine flu is responsible for 36,000 deaths and then I might be concerned.