How to Read Coronavirus News and Learn What You Actually Need to Know about Staying Safe in the Pandemic

How to Read Coronavirus News and Learn What You Actually Need to Know about Staying Safe in the Pandemic

With COVID-19, a news story that may be 100% accurate can still unintentionally mislead readers about the greatest threats of the pandemic. The unintended outcome results from a lesson taught to every journalism student: Use “real people” to “humanize” the news.


The “real person” in COVID-19 stories may be a mom concerned about her child getting sick in the classroom, used as an example in an article about schools reopening. It may be the the family member of a person who died from COVID-19, who gives a moving account for a story about the virus’s effects on young adults.


News is about people, so it makes sense to highlight real-life stories. Viewers and readers relate more to personal tales than they do to dry statistics.


But one person’s experience is, well, one person’s experience. Media studies research suggests readers should not be unduly swayed by one person’s tale of woe – or joy – because examples don’t necessarily represent the whole.


Harrowing, Memorable and Incomplete


Six million Americans have contracted the coronavirus, experiencing radically differing symptoms, illnesses and outcomes. So terrifying individual tales in a news story can’t tell people all they need to know.


For example, National Public Radio recently did a piece on people recovering ver ..

Support the originator by clicking the read the rest link below.