Ridiculous reporting of swine flu

[Paulone]

Several of the newspapers have been bleating that 'the public' - aka the newspaper, were left 'in the dark' because details relating to the tragic death of a man as a result of the flu were not released to them. These papers have today engaged politicans to complain about it as well.

This is crazy! The man (who has now been completely identified down virtually to his shoe size) died in hospital and his family asked that no details about him at all be released (sympathies extended to the deceased man's family).

Annoyed, frustrated and then positively outraged that they couldn't get as much as an age, an underlying condition or even a location for this man, the newspapers involved resort to a bogus 'public right to know' argument and literally start whinging that they've nothing to write.

I've read some of the reports and comment on this in several newspapers and I believe its really, really bad news that the they believe that its their right to have that kind of personal information, regardless of the families wishes. I don't believe such info adds one jot to what has already been widely discussed about this disease.

Maybe newspapers would prefer that the anti-viral drugs and the upcoming vaccine should only be provided to people prepared to sign a waiver for their privacy? The 'public' after all, have a right to have far-too-much information printed in their newspapers.

 

[z104]

It's generally been a slow news summer so you will get this kind of reporting when the media are desparate.

 

[orka]

I think there is a public interest issue in knowing the general age and health status of swine flu sufferers who die. There was no information at all on the second victim for several days before it was made known that he had heart problems. The first victim was acknowledged as having health issues from pretty much the first day of reporting. Knowing that both victims so far had underlying health issues reassures the public somewhat that if they are otherwise healthy but contract swine flu, they should be able to get through it okay. It would be a big cause for public concern if e.g. an otherwise healthy 30 year old died of swine flu. This would probably send many people rushing to their GP for tamiflu at the first sign of a sniffle.

 

[demoivre]

I agree with orka though I'm all for protecting the anonymity of the deceased. Headlines like this can induce fear in some people - then you read down and see that the woman had "chronic underlying health conditions".