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Right-wing media spreads conspiracy and deny risk of coronavirus – Business Insider – Business Insider
Foto: MANDEL NGAN/Getty Images
Radio personality Rush Limbaugh pumps thumb after being awarded the Medal of Freedom by First Lady Melania Trump after being acknowledged by US President Donald Trump as he delivers the State of the Union address at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on February 4, 2020.
- Two prominent right-wing media personalities are denying the threat posed by the Wuhan coronavirus and spreading conspiracy theories to boost the president.
- Talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh falsely claimed „the coronavirus is the common cold“ and argued that the Democratic Party „poses a far greater threat“ to the country than the virus does.
- Fox News primetime host Laura Ingraham claimed 2020 Democratic candidates „are either hoping for misery or actually peddling it.“
- President Donald Trump has spread misleading claims about the coronavirus‘ potential trajectory and death rate.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Some of President Donald Trump’s most vocal backers in right-wing media are downplaying the threat posed by the Wuhan coronavirus and spreading conspiracy theories to boost the president’s response.
Just weeks after Trump awarded conservative talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor, Limbaugh went to bat for Trump’s coronavirus response.
On Monday, Limbaugh falsely claimed on his radio show that „the coronavirus is the common cold.“
After Dr. Nancy Messonnier, the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, announced that the coronavirus‘ spread in the US was inevitable, Limbaugh and others began spreading a conspiracy that Messonnier is part of the „deep state“ out to undermine the president because her brother is former deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein.
Messonnier’s announcement came shortly after Trump claimed the virus was „totally under control.“
The controversial radio host argued during his Wednesday show that the Democratic Party, and Sen. Bernie Sanders in particular, „poses a far greater threat“ to the country than the virus does.
„The forces arrayed against Donald Trump are doing everything they can to weaponize this to harm the economy, to harm the stock market in hopes of harming President Trump,“ he went on.
„They are trying to use this coronavirus to scare the hell out of everybody in their madcap hopes of finding something that will get rid of Donald Trump,“ Limbaugh said. „It’s exactly like the panic and fearmongering you heard for two years over Russia meddling in and stealing the election.“
Limaugh went on to argue that the American virus response effort doesn’t require more funding, as Democrats argue, offering no evidence except the president’s word to support the claim.
Fox News primetime host Laura Ingraham claimed 2020 Democratic candidates „are either hoping for misery or actually peddling it.“
„Democrats and their media cronies have decided to weaponize fear and also weaponized suffering to improve their chances against Trump in November,“ Ingraham said during her Wednesday night program. „The facts don’t matter to the Trump haters.“
Trump held a press briefing with government officials responsible for the coronavirus response, including former Vice President Mike Pence, on Wednesday night and downplayed the risk of the virus, insisting the US is „very, very ready for this, for anything.“
Trump has also argued that the coronavirus is only as threatening as the seasonal flu, but the reported death rate from the novel virus in China is much higher. The president also misleadingly claimed that the coronavirus will go away in April as temperatures rise.
Democrats have sharply condemned Trump’s response to the virus, calling his request for $2.5 billion in funding inadequate and „anemic,“ and his administration’s announcement that a potential virus may not be affordable for many Americans „absolutely disgusting.“
fox news is still trying to blame sanders, warren, and democrats for the stock market going down https://t.co/TFRz8Fmtvm pic.twitter.com/knjrbUrBsl
— John Whitehouse (@existentialfish) February 27, 2020
Stocks tumbled on Thursday as investors panicked at the growing prospect of the novel coronavirus becoming a pandemic and choking global growth.
The virus – which causes a flu-like disease called COVID-19 – has infected more than 82,000 people – the vast majority in China – and killed more than 2,800. It has spread to more than 40 countries and the World Health Organization announced this week that the world should prepare for a pandemic.
„All countries, whether they have cases or not, must prepare for a potential pandemic,“ WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday. „We are not just fighting to contain a virus and save lives. We are also in a fight to contain the social and economic damage a global pandemic could do.“
There is no cure for COVID-19, and no vaccine yet either, though scientists in the US at the National Institutes of Health say one could be ready for testing within months. The best preventative measure is thorough, regular hand-washing.
Theron Mohamed contributed to this report.
Arrest made in false fire alarm
A Guelph male has been charged in relation to a false fire alarm activation at Guelph General Hospital earlier this year.
Early on January 27, the male had a verbal dispute with hospital security and ran through the hospital, pulling a fire alarm and smashing a window. On Tuesday he turned himself in to Guelph Police.
An 18-year-old Guelph male is charged with making a false alarm of fire and mischief under $5,000. He will appear in a Guelph court October 4, 2022.
Male held after missing court
A Guelph male who missed a court date on charges including carrying a weapon for a dangerous purpose was rearrested Tuesday.
Guelph Police Service officers were on patrol downtown just before 11 a.m. when they spotted a male known to be wanted. The male tried to flee as officers approached but was arrested a short distance away. A search incident to arrest revealed a driver’s licence which had been reported stolen in 2018.
A 50-year-old Guelph male is further charged with failing to attend court and possessing stolen property. He will appear in a Guelph bail court Thursday.
Driver suspended after traffic stop
A Guelph male was taken off the road for three days following a traffic stop Tuesday night.
Just after 10 p.m., a member of the Guelph Police Service stopped a vehicle in the area of Willow Road and Dawson Road. The driver was asked to provide a breath sample into a roadside screening device and registered an Alert, indicating a blood-alcohol level between 50 and 100 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80 milligrams.
A 30-year-old Guelph male faces several Highway Traffic Act charges and had his licence suspended for three days.
Total calls for service in the last 24 hours – 211
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A new study published in the academic journal Current Opinion in Psychology offers a path forward for parents who are searching for better ways to navigate the nascent world of adolescent social media use.
The authors argue that it is possible for parents to put guardrails in place that reduce pre-teen and adolescent anxiety and depression resulting from social media overconsumption, as well as minimize the negative effects of cyberbullying.
Here is an overview of their recommendations.
Recommendation #1: Familiarize yourself with the different styles of social media parenting
It should come as no surprise that parents vary widely in the way they manage their children’s social media use. According to the authors, there are four general approaches parents take when monitoring their teenagers’ social media use. They are:
- Autonomy-supportive. This approach provides a developmentally appropriate rationale for social media rules and takes adolescents’ perspectives seriously.
- Autonomy-restrictive. This approach provides rules in a strict and harsh way, without much respect for adolescents’ perspectives.
- Inconsistent. This strategy, or lack thereof, occurs when parents randomly vary in their restrictions, regulations, or discussions of social media.
- Permissive. This approach avoids guidance and discussion and provides limited restrictions or rules.
There are other styles as well. Some parents practice ‘social media surveillance,’ in which they keep tabs on adolescents’ media use — for example, by using tracking software, holding adolescents’ social media passwords, or checking adolescents’ social media profiles. Researchers break social media surveillance down into two sub-categories: ‘authoritarian surveillance’ (e.g., accessing adolescents’ social media accounts and passwords) and ‘nonintrusive inspection’ (e.g., browsing their profiles).
There are also cases of ‘co-use,’ where parents and children use social media together.
Before attempting to refine your social media parenting style, it is important to reflect upon your current social media stance and how it may be perceived by your child or children. Are you autonomy-supportive or autonomy-restrictive? Are your rules inconsistent or permissive? Do you co-use social media with your child? Do you practice some form of social media surveillance?
Recommendation #2: A stricter approach may be a better approach
While there is no ‘right answer’ to the question of how to parent in the age of social media, a preponderance of the data suggests that more active approaches lead to better outcomes than passive approaches.
The authors state, “Overall, studies find that adolescents report less problematic use when parents use more parental monitoring, restrictive or active mediation, or strict internet and smartphone rules.”
There is also evidence to suggest that adolescents spend less time using social media when parents implement an autonomy-supportive approach. Other evidence reveals that teens exhibit more anxiety and depressive symptoms when parents use a more autonomy-restrictive style to restrict adolescents’ social media use and fewer symptoms when parents implement an autonomy-supportive style.
In other words, there is something to be said for creating a family environment in which social media dialogue between kids and parents is a supportive, two-way street — but while maintaining strict rules to limit overconsumption and problematic social media activity.
Of course, there are counterarguments to this line of thinking. One study published in Frontiers in Psychology, for instance, found that a more restrictive stance on social media access was associated with a heightened risk of social media addiction. What this should illuminate is that while some approaches on average work better than others, individual circumstances should be taken into account when developing your own social media monitoring strategy.
Recommendation #3: Stay informed. As social media evolves, so will the guidance.
Many big questions have yet to be answered. For example, it is still unclear whether the type of social media your child is using (be it online, on a smartphone, for gaming, etc.) influences how you, as a parent, should manage it. It’s also unclear how quickly the negative effects of social media overconsumption on a child’s well-being can be undone. Can parents expect a rapid turnaround in a child’s behavior after shifting course, or do the negative effects linger for some time?
More research is needed to address these important questions.
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Media Advisory: Premier Furey to Announce Additional Measure to Address Recruitment and Retention of Physicians – News Releases – Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
The Honourable Andrew Furey, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, will announce an additional measure to address recruitment and retention of physicians today (Tuesday, August 16) at 2:15 p.m.
He will be joined by the Honourable Tom Osborne, Minister of Health and Community Services, Dr. Sohaib Al-Asaaed, Post Graduate Medical Education Associate Dean, and Dr. Mikaela Murphy, a second-year family medicine resident.
The availability will take place in Room M5M101, Faculty of Medicine, St. John’s Campus, Memorial University.
The availability will be streamed live on Facebook.
– 30 –
Media contacts
Meghan McCabe
Office of the Premier
709-729-3960
meghanmccabe@gov.nl.ca
Laura Thomas
Health and Community Services
709-729-6986, 727-0341
laurathomas@gov.nl.ca
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