Media Coverage of COVID -19

[Bantamzen]

Covid: Summer holidays abroad 'unlikely', warns government adviser

There is a risk travellers could bring Covid variants back to the UK, a government adviser warns.

www.bbc.co.uk

The link gives space to some SAGE guy saying summer holidays abroad should be extremely unlikely. This really annoys me. Since when has he been entitled to speak like this, as if he decides Government policy, but more to the point, why was it top of the BBC website until the record vaccination news took over.

‘There is a risk...”. Unquantified

’Could’...quite

”Variant’... Covid variants happen all the time, and they aren’t necessarily bad

And that’s just from the headline.

Oh I am quite sick and tired of these people, will someone please put them back in their boxes?

Meanwhile, the BBC are getting desperate for covid related bad news stories. As I type this is their headline article.

Dawn Bilbrough: Food plea nurse considers quitting after Covid

Dawn Bilbrough's tearful plea for people to stop panic buying went viral during the first wave.

www.bbc.co.uk

Apparently a nurse threatening to quit who posted a video about how she was angry at people panic buying last March is the most pressing issue of the day. For me this is enough evidence to demonstrate that the BBC are have sunk to tabloid level journalism.

 

[brad465]

Covid: Summer holidays abroad 'unlikely', warns government adviser

There is a risk travellers could bring Covid variants back to the UK, a government adviser warns.

www.bbc.co.uk

The link gives space to some SAGE guy saying summer holidays abroad should be extremely unlikely. This really annoys me. Since when has he been entitled to speak like this, as if he decides Government policy, but more to the point, why was it top of the BBC website until the record vaccination news took over.

‘There is a risk...”. Unquantified

’Could’...quite

”Variant’... Covid variants happen all the time, and they aren’t necessarily bad

And that’s just from the headline.

It is a widely accepted opinion on this forum that SAGE members should be banned from talking to the media separately like this, where at best they should only be allowed to speak as one collective voice. Getting that to happen though is another thing entirely, as the mainstream media has become all about "spectacle, not substance". That is they'll report whoever/whatever they believe gets them the most clicks and in turn profit.

 

[Gadget88]

I admit the media reporting has sent my anxiety through the roof the sheer scaremongering with Europe and new variants and vaccines. I am sure this is what they want people to feel fear

 

[nlogax]

I admit the media reporting has sent my anxiety through the roof the sheer scaremongering with Europe and new variants and vaccines. I am sure this is what they want people to feel fear

Then you really need to step back from the reporting. I don't think it's doing anyone any good to keep glued to every twist and turn of the media debate and the panic-inducing utterances from the various talking heads out there. It's a sure fire route to madness.

 

[Yew]

Indeed, this is the same media that drove the toilet paper frenzy.

 

[kristiang85]

Indeed, this is the same media that drove the toilet paper frenzy.

Yep, then blamed people for being idiots.

Whilst yes those who engaged in toilet paper stockpiling were not helping the situation, it wouldn't have happened without the media egging it on.

 

[bramling]

I admit the media reporting has sent my anxiety through the roof the sheer scaremongering with Europe and new variants and vaccines. I am sure this is what they want people to feel fear

I really do get the feeling that a significant subset of people seem to want this to last forever. Goodness knows why.

 

[Richard Scott]

I really do get the feeling that a significant subset of people seem to want this to last forever. Goodness knows why.

Probably because their lives haven't changed much or they now work from home and are happy with that. Also they can carry on with the 'I'm helping NHS and keeping people safe' rhetoric, no doubt just for self promotion.

 

[kristiang85]

Probably because their lives haven't changed much or they now work from home and are happy with that. Also they can carry on with the 'I'm helping NHS and keeping people safe' rhetoric, no doubt just for self promotion.

I've noticed there's an almost perfect correlation with these people on social media who call for these restrictions to continue (or use the term 'covidiot') and the profiles stating genders, various trendy social justice acronyms, etc.

These are people who find a cause to lazily back, and it gives them a sense of belief that they are changing the world for the better without actually doing anything apart from preaching from their living room pulpit.

 

[kez19]

As much as I criticised the World Service last week it did seem they toned down on the COVID reporting on Newsday (only once and that was after 7am), maybe there are parts of the media and the BBC getting some of the message in terms of how they report.

I could be wrong here but I preferred the media (to an extent) prior to COVID to what it has become a media clickbait frenzy

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 21 Mar 2021 ==

I admit the media reporting has sent my anxiety through the roof the sheer scaremongering with Europe and new variants and vaccines. I am sure this is what they want people to feel fear

Possibly but when it comes back to them on the backfoot expect them to plead innocent

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 21 Mar 2021 ==

Yep, then blamed people for being idiots.

Whilst yes those who engaged in toilet paper stockpiling were not helping the situation, it wouldn't have happened without the media egging it on.

Yet on the other got away with it, has the media forgot that the public can turn on them or do they think they are invincible to it?

The media are as much complicit as the rest of the run of the mill ie politicians SAGE etc, they whip up fear/panic create the chaos but stand back and watch.

I remember (must have been Mark Duggan protest), I watched Sky News protest kicked off in London, camera crews/reporters on scene then when it got nasty the protesters turned on the media.


At a guess this will be a reason why media aren’t much head first when protests happen it’s more of a stand back in case they get turned against

 

[brad465]

This is essentially the perfect build up of excitement then immediate come down when it comes to news stories on the BBC landing page, with record vaccinations alongside the single opinion of masks and social distancing lasting for years, with the two effectively contradicting each other:

Home - BBC News

Visit BBC News for up-to-the-minute news, breaking news, video, audio and feature stories. BBC News provides trusted World and UK news as well as local and regional perspectives. Also entertainment, business, science, technology and health news.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[87electric]

The perfect example of passive/aggressive abuse.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Lower left of that screenshot - one has to wonder: why is the Defence Minister pronouncing on matters which are the responsibility of the Transport secretary and the Foreign Secretary...?

 

[Darandio]

Lower left of that screenshot - one has to wonder: why is the Defence Minister pronouncing on matters which are the responsibility of the Transport secretary and the Foreign Secretary...?

There's nobody to bomb at the moment so he was feeling a bit left out and wanted us to all know he's still around.

 

[brad465]

Lower left of that screenshot - one has to wonder: why is the Defence Minister pronouncing on matters which are the responsibility of the Transport secretary and the Foreign Secretary...?

Here's my hypothesis: Shapps was interviewed on travelling abroad yesterday (and/or Friday?), so maybe he's had enough for the time being, while Raab seems to have been busy recently trying to persuade the US it's okay to mess over Northern Ireland (despite the fact he will lose).

 

[HSTEd]

What legislation is the mask requirement on transport and in shops under?

Is that the 1984 Public Health act or the Coronavirus Act

 

[initiation]

What legislation is the mask requirement on transport and in shops under?

Is that the 1984 Public Health act or the Coronavirus Act

Two different SIs but both under the Public Health Act as per the following.

The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Wearing of Face Coverings on Public Transport) (England) Regulations 2020

These Regulations require members of the public to wear face coverings whilst using public transport (such as buses, trains, the London Underground, trams, aircraft and water taxis) in England to protect against the risks to public health arising from coronavirus, except in certain limited cases.

www.legislation.gov.uk

The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Wearing of Face Coverings in a Relevant Place) (England) Regulations 2020

These Regulations require members of the public to wear face coverings whilst inside a relevant place specified in the Regulations in England to protect against the risks to public health arising from coronavirus, except in certain limited cases.

www.legislation.gov.uk

One was June and the other July. Both expire after 12 months so if they want them to continue it will need a renewal.

 

[HSTEd]

One was June and the other July. Both expire after 12 months so if they want them to continue it will need a renewal.

Yes, but the renewal is functionally automatic.
There is no proper legislative procedure.

 

[the sniper]

The media are as much complicit as the rest of the run of the mill ie politicians SAGE etc, they whip up fear/panic create the chaos but stand back and watch.

Much like the agitators on social media...

 

[kez19]

Much like the agitators on social media...

I agree with that part too.

 

[kristiang85]

There's nobody to bomb at the moment so he was feeling a bit left out and wanted us to all know he's still around.

I must admit I had absolutely no idea who he was.

 

[Jamesrob637]

This overlaps a couple of threads but I can see the message changing to

Stay alert, control the virus, save lives

with effect from next week for possibly the rest of the year.

 

[Huntergreed]

This overlaps a couple of threads but I can see the message changing to

Stay alert, control the virus, save lives

with effect from next week for possibly the rest of the year.

This messaging wouldn’t make much sense. It’s the role of the vaccine to “control the virus”, not the population.

 

[greyman42]

This is essentially the perfect build up of excitement then immediate come down when it comes to news stories on the BBC landing page, with record vaccinations alongside the single opinion of masks and social distancing lasting for years, with the two effectively contradicting each other:

Home - BBC News

Visit BBC News for up-to-the-minute news, breaking news, video, audio and feature stories. BBC News provides trusted World and UK news as well as local and regional perspectives. Also entertainment, business, science, technology and health news.

www.bbc.co.uk

View attachment 92833

Why was someone as bonkers as Mary Ramsey given airtime on the Andrew Marr show? It does nothing for the show or the BBCs credibility.

 

[yorksrob]

The BBC seems to be even more pro-lockdown today. Other than Radio 2, I'm beginning to wonder what's the point of it.

 

[kez19]

The BBC seems to be even more pro-lockdown today. Other than Radio 2, I'm beginning to wonder what's the point of it.

Its a frenzy, the fun doesn't stop with the media - the waves keep coming in and the media get more hyped just a pity we couldn't just give the UK media a mexican wave and tell them to jump.

 

[philosopher]

The BBC seems to be even more pro-lockdown today. Other than Radio 2, I'm beginning to wonder what's the point of it.

This month the media have been particularly pro lockdown and gloomy. At the start of the month I was hoping the media would be more upbeat, focusing on the how the successful vaccination programme is ending the pandemic in the UK and that it is time to rebuild our lives after a wasted year.

Instead the news has been dominated by stories such as new variants, scientists saying restrictions will be needed for several years and how the government was too late locking down last year. Even the successful vaccination programme they have managed to twist into a negative story through frequent reporting on how it will slow down in April.

The only plus point is they do seem to moving onto reporting other stories more often now.

 

[greyman42]

It seems to me that the BBC are simply desperate for some bad news regarding Coronavirus. Gone are the days when they used to pride themselves on being impartial.

 

[kristiang85]

It seems to me that the BBC are simply desperate for some bad news regarding Coronavirus. Gone are the days when they used to pride themselves on being impartial.

It is really strange. I can see why Sky would go for bad news and encourage lockdowns as it generates more subscriptions from those stuck at home. I can see why the papers do it, as bad/sensationalist news tends to get more views so thus more advertising revenue.

Yet the BBC aren't reliant on this from their news. So, the only explanation is that they are acting on the will of the government to report like this.

 

[Horizon22]

The BBC has written an article fact-checking claims made. Interestingly, they directly report on Sweden's situation which I know many forum users have used as a comparative case.

Covid lockdown: Seven enduring claims fact-checked

A year after the first UK lockdown began, there are many who doubt the necessity of such restrictions.

www.bbc.co.uk