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Newsick
I’m no stranger to talking about being news averse. I like my news filtered through late night comedy, usually the following day. However, it doesn’t seem responsible today to be more ignorant. Despite ramping up my news diet, I don’t seem to be getting the answers that I need and suspect that’s the case for many. There are questions that no news source will answer but probably worry many of us:
- Will I get the disease?
- Will myself or someone I care about be gravely ill from it?
- Is there anything not already told to me that prevent me from getting ill (hand washing, avoiding contact with sick people, “social distancing”, etc.)
- How bad will things get?
- When will this pass?
- What will never go back to normal after this?
When I look at the news, I don’t seem to get any real answers to these. There aren’t even reliable answers for facts, such as how many new cases were found today, how many people died, what’s the recovery rate, how many tests are available, what things are closed.
The fact that the news can’t reliably answer the above questions makes us prone to misinformation or soothsayers. Let’s hope the answer to everything is mild.
