Early on masks and mask wearing poorly reported

 

On occasion, newspapers are among the poorest sources of accurate information. I was wearing a mask in March of 2020. A journalist with whom I once worked was retweeting to his followers that if they wore a mask into a store they should be told to get the hell out. Masks were not welcome in public spaces according to this long time reporter.

I got into heated discussions about the value of masks with a number of reporters. I was told that pushing the wearing of masks made me a troll. They all argued that they, not I, were following Science with a capital 'S'. And they were all wrong. The trolls, if you insist on using that word, were the reporters attacking those who disagreed with them. I was stopped on the street once and verbally attacked by an irate reporter.

Newspapers often carry bunkum: Why?

Many people are fearful of vaccines and vaccination. These people often have doubts about the value of masks and social distancing as well. I do not hold these people totally responsible for their negative views, of their fears, for their wildly inaccurate beliefs. They are inundated with bad information. It is not fake news. It is not produced with the goal of deceiving people but it does deceive people. And if journalists think that they never mislead, they are deceiving themselves as well as the public.

https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-misinformation-advisory.pdf

Misinformation is not always wrong. It may be just misleading. An anecdote about a serious, negative side effect of a medical treatment may be true but it obscures the fact that the side effect is very rare and treatable. By misinforming about the benefits and the risks, the anecdote can be highly misleading and harmful to public health.

Journalists, editors, and others must recognize, correct, and avoid amplifying misinformation.