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The Irish media hysteria

RunningFlyer

Forgive me for starting a thread if one already exists - I’ve read so many different threads and posts I’ve probably missed the obvious however...

It seems everyone is waiting daily for the 6pm figures to find out the latest cases and deaths situation. It’s scary to see how every single media outlet in this country is putting all their attention on this (yes, gloom sells). Not just RTE, but the other stations and every single paper has the latest on the front page in some form or another.

Contrast this to European media - search any of the national news channels or newspapers and you’ll find its never (usually) the top story. They are over the initial panic and are I guess realise they are in for the long haul with this virus.

People here are only obsessed with three things; deaths, cases and the “R” number. I’m not a Statistician or epidemiologist but a few weeks ago when there was concern and hype raised over the R number increasing beyond 1 on the basis of 20 odd cases or so made me completely lose faith in the strategy of the government/NPHET. 10mins reading about R numbers will prove it’s not an effective measurement with low numbers yet this was peddled across the media.

The fear-mongering of the Irish media is seriously starting to affect the mental health of the population - I’m sure everyone has witnessed it on a personal level either themselves or their friends/family. If you’re get stressed I highly recommend deleting the news apps, distract yourself around 6pm when you know the figures will be released, and try enjoy the last of the long days and sunshine because if the current media narrative continues, it’s going to be a miserable winter.

Ireland needs to evolve from our sheepish culture and learn to think outside the box and make our own opinions of matters. The media need to tone down the hysteria and the government need to realise this virus is here to stay so have to start making some difficult decisions against the ultra-conservative NPHET advice to safeguard the country.

Thoughts?

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road_high

PowerToWait wrote: »

You simply don’t understand the grave reality, and that’s fine. Denial is often a coping mechanism also.

Oh but i do. I've already explained to you but you chose to ignore- your "grave reality" isn't remotely concerning to me as I've been following the stats. To repeat again I'm not stopping you from reacting the way you see appropriate or stopping you take whatever measures you feel you need to protect yourself. I only wish you'd stop trying to get me to think the same. The stats don't lie and I've long since concluded it's not something that warrants hysteria

Markx

Thoughts are that the original post is confused and lacks focus. The fourth section is particularly weak.

road_high

Wanderer78 wrote: »

Ignorance is also a thing!

As is blind hysteria. You want that then knock yourself out. Just leave those of us that aren't interested in pissing ourselves daily alone.

Wanderer78

road_high wrote:

Oh but i do. I've already explained to you but you chose to ignore- your "grave reality" isn't remotely concerning to me as I've been following the stats. To repeat again I'm not stopping you from reacting the way you see appropriate or stopping you take whatever measures you feel you need to protect yourself. I only wish you'd stop trying to get me to think the same. The stats don't lie and I've long since concluded it's not something that warrants hysteria

Maybe your analysis has caused you to under react to the situation?

Wanderer78

road_high wrote:

As is blind hysteria. You want that then knock yourself out. Just leave those of us that aren't interested in pissing ourselves daily alone.

Pissing ourselves?

road_high

GazzaL wrote: »

Not really. Lots of talk about holidays, the weather, football, restaurants/pubs, work, etc.

In a work context Covid 19 virtually never comes up anymore. We are all too busy and focused on the many tasks in hand- it doesn't pay any bills fretting over it.

KiKi III

I think we've been very quick to forget the near-apocalyptic scenes in Italy just a few months ago. Doctors having to play god, deciding who lives and dies because there weren't enough ventilators for everyone who needed them.

Thank f*** we didn't have that here, it was heartbreaking to watch even from a distance. But because it didn't happen here, the abundance of caution the government is taking is seen as 'hysteria' by some.

Wanderer78

road_high wrote:

In a work context Covid 19 virtually never comes up anymore. We are all too busy and focused on the many tasks in hand- it doesn't pay any bills fretting over it.

What about those that find themselves outta work because of this?

road_high

Wanderer78 wrote: »

Maybe your analysis has caused you to under react to the situation?

Why would i need to react in any way other than the way I've detailed?

Wanderer78

road_high wrote:

Why would i need to react in any way other than the way I've detailed?

Maybe you're misinterpreting your analysis

pjohnson

KiKi III wrote: »

I think we've been very quick to forget the near-apocalyptic scenes in Italy just a few months ago. Doctors having to play god, deciding who lives and dies because there weren't enough ventilators for everyone who needed them.

Thank f*** we didn't have that here, it was heartbreaking to watch even from a distance. But because it didn't happen here, the abundance of caution the government is taking is seen as 'hysteria' by some.

Ah tbf some of them were saying "its only a flu" in the middle of the Italy situation. They are hardly gunna have educated themselves since.

The Unbearables

Poor attempt OP.

road_high

Wanderer78 wrote: »

What about those that find themselves outta work because of this?

Well making a daily song and dance about it isn't going to help them then is it? I've posted at length about the self inflicted harm the hysteria has caused to people's livelihoods and they have my full support and empathy- because it could be any of us depending on what industry we work in.

Wanderer78

pjohnson wrote:

Ah tbf some of them were saying "its only a flu" in the middle of the Italy situation. They are hardly gunna have educated themselves since.

Some still saying it, probably educated in the don uni

Wanderer78

road_high wrote:

Well making a daily song and dance about it isn't going to help them then is it? I've posted at length about the self inflicted harm the hysteria has caused to people's livelihoods and they have my full support and empathy- because it could be any of us depending on what industry we work in.

Self inflicted harm?

barney shamrock

Thoughts?
I hate posts that end with "thoughts?"

Wanderer78

barney shamrock wrote:

Thoughts? I hate posts that end with "thoughts?"

Thank God I've no brain, thoughts only wreck your head

gabeeg

road_high wrote: »

In a work context Covid 19 virtually never comes up anymore. We are all too busy and focused on the many tasks in hand- it doesn't pay any bills fretting over it.

That's not my experience at all. Everyone in work talks about it constantly.

You wouldn't happen to be an employer, would you?

ShooterSF

There is definitely something to be said for scaling back your time spent reading/watching news imo. I was one of those at the start scouring every article. I still hop on boards (obviously) and I check in on rte.ie in the evening just to stay informed. But yeah my mental health probably would be worse now if I hadn't accepted that while I can control some things (wear a mask, good hygiene, social distancing...), others are out of my control and, while I need to be aware of what is going on I also need to not become obsessed with it.

Wanderer78

road_high wrote:

Well i never asked you to talk to me, did I? If you're looking for an echo chamber of virtue signalling I'm sure you'll find it. You can tell each other how marvellous you are and saving lives etc etc. doing whatever it is you're doing

Are you okay, you sound a little bitter, you're with friends, it's okay

Wanderer78

ShooterSF wrote:

There is definitely something to be said for scaling back your time spent reading/watching news imo. I was one of those at the start scouring every article. I still hop on boards (obviously) and I check in on rte.ie in the evening just to stay informed. But yeah my mental health probably would be worse now if I hadn't accepted that while I can control some things (wear a mask, good hygiene, social distancing...), others are out of my control and, while I need to be aware of what is going on I also need to not become obsessed with it.

No harm in keeping up to date, it's an incredibly interesting thing to follow, but if its affecting your well being, walk away

eggy81

No one in my work talks about it unless something big like this wknd or tge times the beaches were getting packed occurs. I don't even consider the chance of getting infected any more in work because we have decent mitigating controls in place and neved need to get close to another worker.

padser

Some of the nonsense being spouted here is genuinely worrying.

The key thing that needs to happen to avoid the types of scenes from Italy happening here is that people need to constantly change and de risk their behaviour (social distance, use masks, meet outdoors etc).

Changing people's behaviour is really f***ing tough. Ask any marketer, social scientist or economist. It can be close to impossible in many cases. At a minimum it tends to involve relentless repetition.

Things like daily press conferences, daily numbers, media reports etc are tools to try and keep people acting in a safer way than they otherwise would.

Criticising using those tools, and telling people to "just start living their lives" ranks up there with some of the stupidest comments I've seem on the internet in recent times. Genuinely f***ing stupid.

Wanderer78

padser wrote:

Changing people's behaviour is really f***ing tough. Ask any marketer, social scientist or economist. It can be close to impossible in many cases. At a minimum it tends to involve relentless repetition.

Surely marketer's would be the bestest, those cnuts have been bullsh1tting us forever, and we ve lapped it up

road_high

gabeeg wrote: »

That's not my experience at all. Everyone in work talks about it constantly.

You wouldn't happen to be an employer, would you?

No, not an employer. Back in the spring it was a topic of conversation but life moved on as it does. Depends on the work environment and situation I guess. if you were very public facing like in a large store then it would be omnipresent.
I guess it helps some people talking about it, there's some kind of reassurance or solidarity for them in that.

MadYaker

I don't understand why some people are so obsessed withe the media. They talk about everything thats their job, most people just ignore them. Nobody is living in fear because of them talking about covid. They trigger cetain snowflakes who then asume everyone is as angry as them but thats not the case. Live your life ignore the newspapers and the radio.

Wanderer78

road_high wrote:

No, not an employer. Back in the spring it was a topic of conversation but life moved on as it does. Depends on the work environment and situation I guess. if you were very public facing like in a large store then it would be omnipresent. I guess it helps some people talking about it, there's some kind of reassurance or solidarity for them in that.

Err emm, this is probably the most significant global event since ww2, we re still knee deep in it!

road_high

Wanderer78 wrote: »

Err emm, this is probably the most significant global event since ww2, we re still knee deep in it!

That's great. But life goes on

gabeeg

road_high wrote: »

No, not an employer. Back in the spring it was a topic of conversation but life moved on as it does. Depends on the work environment and situation I guess. if you were very public facing like in a large store then it would be omnipresent.
I guess it helps some people talking about it, there's some kind of reassurance or solidarity for them in that.

I'm not being funny, but it could just be you.

Wanderer78

road_high wrote:

That's great. But life goes on

Life went on during the war also, but it was dramatically changed, during and after, we re currently probably experiencing something similar, things could in fact change dramatically for us all after this one