Swine Flu: The Media Are The Real Swines

There's nothing quite like the end of the world, is there? Nations were put on red alert when it was first revealed that a deadly virus - (in)appropriately labelled 'swine flu' - had broken out in Mexico, with hundreds of deaths reported to have occurred as a result of this new variation of influenza. Inevitably, the virus could not be contained, as it spread across the globe to most major countries such as America and the United Kingdom. In unsurprising fashion, sales of face masks sky-rocketed, national newspapers declared the end of the world for the upteenth time, and the general public were left confused: just how potentially serious could swine flu be?

Of course, it's not like the media to blow things out of propor- oh, wait. It is. I was sceptical when the news first broke out. I remained sceptical when the WHO - could they have picked a more ridiculous acronym? - raised the threat level up a couple of notches. And I still remain sceptical with the news that it is now officially a pandemic. Don't get me wrong, it's only logical that officials are treating this situation with the utmost seriousness, but people are being given mixed signals about the severity of the virus; the 'let's remain calm' demeanour of the experts is clashing with the 'we're all gonna die!' message being signalled by the media. If we look at the experts' analysis, there's been nothing to suggest that the virus will mutate into a more deadly form; the majority of swine flu-related deaths have occurred as a result of underlying health problems; and, although the number of cases have escalated, its severity is very much being contained. I'd like to think that the majority of people listen to the experts, but that's not always the case in a media-driven society.

The topic of swine flu has only recently come back into the media spotlight, after spending a bit of time in the shadow - whether it will remain centre-stage is questionable. Who knows? Its severity could still heighten as we enter the winter months, and the number of deaths that occur without underlying health problems could yet increase. It's pretty clear that this is once again a case of the media making mountains out of mole hills, but can you blame them? After all, crisis sells. So it's no surprise that the media are blowing this one out of proportion, but what is important is that the general public keep a level head and acknowledge who is really in the know. The WHO have said that the situation is of 'moderate severity', experts have played down the seriousness of the virus and the statistics currently suggest that we don't have too much to worry about. But as long as the media exists, people will panic. Those swines... oink oink!