On Sunday, October 19, 2014, the New York Times published an article titled "In U.S, Fear of Ebola Closes Schools and Shapes Politics". Since last month when a man infected with Ebola came to Dallas, the nation has been in shambles. Parents pulled their children out of a middle school in Mississippi after they found out its principal had been to Zambia, even though this nation was untouched by Ebola. Politicians from both parties are calling for the end of commercial air traffic between the United States and some African countries. Most public health experts say a shutdown would compound risks instead of alleviating them. The panic caused by Ebola mirrors those of the anthrax attacks of 2001 and the West Nile virus outbreak in New York City in 1999. However, has spread electronically, for the most part, instead of biologically. This panic caused by media is not limited to diseases. After the bombings at the Boston Marathon in 2013, researchers found that those exposed to a great deal of media within the first week reported more stress than the people who were actually there and survived. A lot of this fear comes from the health care system. Baruch Fischhoff says, “There are two elements to trust, one is competence and one is honesty.” While many know the disease is not easily transmittable, the fact that the hospital in Dallas has changed its story three times shows people that the system for managing this disease is imperfect.
I think this article is worth a read because it shows how easily people are manipulated by the media. The part about how people who were exposed to a great deal of media within the first week reporting more stress than those who were actually there and survived was particularly interesting. People usually like to be drama queens and blow situations out of reasonable proportion.
