SARS and the media.

[onlainari]

SARS. Remember it by any chance?

When was the Iraq War? Began 19th of March 2003, Bush declared victory 1st May, 2003.

When did the SARS outbreak begin? The first case of SARS is believed to be a Chinese businessman who contracted a case of pneumonia with an unidentifiable cause. This was in November 2002. The disease didn't become identified as a new strain of virus and an epidemic until mid March. Officially the delay was due to China's reluctance in reporting the outbreak until it reached it's major cities and across the border.

When did the outbreak end? 5 July 2003. The disease had eased off by the end of April. Press coverage ceased by beginning of May.

What is SARS? A disease caused by a new strain of virus. A coronavirus that was affecting humans in a way that was unseen before. The only explaination for it's creation offered to us by the media was that ecological changes or changes in human behaviour increased opportunities for human exposure to the virus.

Anyone think we've had the wool pulled over our eyes? Was SARS; with a mortality rate of less than 10%, infecting only 8098 people over 4.5 months in an incredibly densly populated area, dieing out in 4.5 months with no cure, and people running around with masks that gave them no protection to the virus; worthy of such intense media coverage? Coincidental timing or not, I think we all got a little too scared. Conviniently.

[Guardsman 173rd]

interesting point... I love conspiracy theories and this has got to be one of the better. There was an outbreak in 2004 some scientist were infected, I think it was in china. Anyway some things are very strange for an instance a whole appartment building with seperate homes had people infected in it all over even though they hadn't moved outside.

The only way for this to happen is if the virus was airborne but that wouldn't make sense since an extremly large amount of people should have been infected, but only the appartment building in question was affected. How could this happen? biological weapons testings? ok maybe a bit radical but think about it, maybe this was some kind of engineered disease tested on the chinese countryside and then spreading to other parts of the world. Or maybe this was just an experiment, testing how fast a simple virus like this could spread throughout the world and how effective it was.

any more ideas?

[Joker]

If you are trying to make the connection that the media coverage was an attempt by the Busch administration to distract the public from the coming war in Iraq then I have to disagree with that assesment.

Before I do that here's the lowdown on SARS: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars/factsheet.htm

You can search the whole site it has great stuff related to SARS.


The biggest hole in this conspiracy theory is the myth that President Busch is in any way in control of the worldwide media.

They hate him! Pure and simple. The worldwide media would love nothing more than to roast his career and his body over any open flame! There are some simpathetic media outlets, but they are in such a minority as to be almost insignificant.

My opinion is that the media overblew the whole SARS situation because they are lazy, incompetent, scare tactic minded, idiots with nothing better to do than play games with stories in attempts to secure their own positions as the sole purveyors of information!

With the advent of online communication their positions as information overlords is threatened to the point that their attempts to force their own opinions on people as fact will make them irrelevant or superfluous.

[Sanctus]

I think that people just freaked out about it and rumors spread really quickly. Its like West Nile in MO. There were like 2 cases last year and it had a 30 second story every night the news was on.

[Archetype-]

These types of scare tactics have been used for longer than you may realize. When you switch on the evening news, what do you see? Some store got robbed at gunpoint, or some man/woman/child was murdered or kidnapped. A 45-second update on the unstable political situation in the Middle East. A few words from washed-up Army officers and so-called expert analysists.

After about five minutes, cut to commercial. What do we see? Try the new burger at McDonalds and get fatter! A preview for some crappy reality series you just have to watch! The upcoming once-a-year, dime-a-dozen sale at JCPenney or Sears! This luxury car you have no chance in hell of being able to own!

It is the sad but awful truth that the so-called "reputable" news shows are controlled by the very corporations you see in the advertisements. Think of the evening news as White Dwarf, a flashy marketing tool. You want some real news that Corporate America can't get its grubby hands on? Find a website such as http://www.axisofjustice.org/. Don't trust CNN, don't trust NPR, don't trust any media source that has a sponsor. Rage Against the Machine was right on the money when they released "Bullet in the Head."

[Ultramarines r cool]

I thought SARS came into exsistance when a chinese man ate a cat and somehow contracted it. Then he spread it in China then came to Canada (Toronto) Somehow got through all customs at our crappy airports (he was obviously showing flu symptoms) and spread it in Canada. Then later on Toronto got red flagged by the W.H.O and people stopped coming to Toronto. But i did get to see 5 MLB games for like $2!!

[wolfkin]

Originally Posted by psteve

SARS. Remember it by any chance?

This might get political later, but please, behave yourselves until at least 20 posts

And if this does only recieve 2 replies I'm just thankful I at least somehow didn't forget about it, and it's coinciding with the war.

Hmmm..... I'm not sure about this. Seems political right from the very start.

But I'll leave it to a wiser Mod to make the decission :mellow:

Wolfkin

[Edicius]

Originally Posted by wolfkin

Hmmm..... I'm not sure about this. Seems political right from the very start.

But I'll leave it to a wiser Mod to make the decission :mellow:

Wolfkin

Iono..it's kinda on the edge. I'll open it back up and just watch it real closely.

[onlainari]

Better not start blaming Bush then. Not that anyone, including myself, has intended to at all, and when reading Jokers post was absolutely amazed at such an assumption.

I am sick of the media and consumerism. This is my little voice saying to a few wargamers that I will no longer trust the media, or pay any attention to conventional advertising. They really do control peoples lives. Not mine.

[Joker]

Originally Posted by psteve

SARS. Remember it by any chance?

This might get political later, but please, behave yourselves until at least 20 posts.

When was the Iraq War? Began 19th of March 2003, Bush declared victory 1st May, 2003.

When did the SARS outbreak begin? The first case of SARS is believed to be a Chinese businessman who contracted a case of pneumonia with an unidentifiable cause. This was in November 2002. The disease didn't become identified as a new strain of virus and an epidemic until mid March.

This how I came by the assumption you were tying the three together. If you didn't mean to insinuate The Iraq War, George Busch, and the incompetent media scare-fest about SARS were somehow related then the start of your thread probably shouldn't have mentioned all 3 in the first few paragraphs in quite that way. It threw me off my game I guess, because it looks like a conspiracy theory.

Actually, why did you mention the Iraq war and George Busch in what (at first glance) appears to be a thread about SARS and the incompetent media?

To me they are wholly unrelated subjects.

My original post only attempts to disprove any connection between the 3 and I have no interest in making this political, nor do I see any reason for a thread about media incompetence concerning SARS to be considered political. I was as surprised as anyone that it got locked.

I actually think you have a good point in discussing the media's failed attempt to scare everyone in the world with the new "doomsday virus" (sars)! :cool: