Corona Virus

[Margaret Pilkington]

Does the prospect of riots instil panic and fear?
Does it make people consider civil disobedience at a time when the police numbers may be low because of self isolation of officers?
There are many more stories in the media which are calculated to create fear and anxiety.
The currency of control is fear....now Reamer, there you have your conspiracy theory.

[cashman]

anyone who reckons the Media are not putting the fear of god into many people has "Rocks in their head" as far as i'm concerned.the are making a very serious situation far worse,

[taddy]

Originally Posted by cashman

anyone who reckons the Media are not putting the fear of god into many people has "Rocks in their head" as far as i'm concerned.the are making a very serious situation far worse,

I have to agree with what yourself and many other people are saying, yes this virus is very, very, serious, people are falling ill and dying all over the world.

I am in no way attempting to make light of the matter (but),at the end of the day, when the virus is finally defeated, the millionairs of today will be the Billionairs of tomorrow because they will be the only people with enough cash to purchase shares at an historic low price; when the epidemic is over they will be laughing or coughing all the way to the bank.
But, Whatever, stay happy, Your's Taddy the Luddite.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Taddy you are right.
But this has been blown out of all persepctive by the media.
Of course it is serious, because no-one really knows how this virus will change...or what it will do to the people who have got it or had it.

I know that I keep on saying this, but there are 60.7 million people live in this country.
There are just over 17 thousand people who have the confirmed virus(many more may have it/have had it and not noticed) one thousand and nineteen people have died.
What is this in percentage terms per capita.....it is a very small percentage.(I could work it out, but I failed maths miserably at school)

There is no cure...but then there is no cure for the common cold or for the flu...and even vaccination for the flu is sometimes hit and miss because viruses mutate...they change so that they can continue to inhabit humans.
That there is no cure does not mean that if you get this you will die from it...you might, but then again you might not

NO I am not saying that we should not take precautions or that we should be cavalier in our attitudes to the infection, but what I AM saying is that we need to get a grip....stay calm and not have fear instilled in us by the dramatic sensationalist language that the media are using.
Use your common sense...keep your sense of humour and a sense of proportion about this crisis.

Now I'll await the flying bricks.

[Exile on Spencer St]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

I know that I keep on saying this, but there are 60.7 million people live in this country....There are just over 17 thousand people who have the confirmed virus(many more may have it/have had it and not noticed) one thousand and nineteen people have died....What is this in percentage terms per capita.....it is a very small percentage.(I could work it out, but I failed maths miserably at school)

The percentages of the U.K. population are 0.028% for those confirmed and 0.0017% for deaths.

On the latter, and I’m no statistician, but am I right in interpreting the attached figures from Public Health England?
Table 1 appears to suggest that, in the last week, there were no ‘excess deaths’ over and above the number that would usually be expected.

https://assets.publishing.service.go...020_report.pdf

[Margaret Pilkington]

Thank you Exile...I felt sure there as someone out there who would help me out on this one...yes you have interpreted them correctly.

As I keep saying we need to take less notice of what the media are telling us and think a little more.....and I know that out there there are a lot of people who are hard of thinking.
These are NOT stupid people, they are just people who believe what the media are telling them...swallowing the pap without chewing it.

[Reamer]

Margaret, thank you for remembering the 'conspiracy' link. I tip my hat. One thing I have noticed in your diatribes against the media is that , so far, you have failed to mention the Government.
My take on this is that they had to take the lead from other organisations that curtailed their activities before the Gov had taken a lead. However, they then got a handle on the situation and started to spell out a strategy. How did they do that that ? by using the media. The format was controlled by the Gov, are you agreed ? Three officials in front of the flag with questions to follow any policy declarations. No prior giveaways to the press and the only thing you can possibly question is why does Laura Koensberg (BBC) always get the first question and why is C4 always given the last ? (but maybe that's another conversation)
So...the Gov is relying on the media to relay its decisions to the population...agree ? and anyway. Can you tell me how many copies of the Express are bought in Accrington. Come on, probably about eight on a good day. I wouldn't be seen dead anywhere near that rag.

n

[monkey hanger]

[QUOTE=Exile on Spencer St;1238666]The percentages of the U.K. population are 0.028% for those confirmed and 0.0017% for deaths.

in a world where in recent years every facts have been converted into percentages of this or that. suddenly the media have packed in percentages and started talking about numbers of cases and deaths. this gives a picture of the virus being worse than it is. once this is over they,ll be back to their percentage figures once more if that fits their agenda,s that is.

[Margaret Pilkington]

My observations on the behaviour of the media are just that, observations....a diatribe is a bitter verbal attack.....now if you wish to see my observations as such, then that is your business.
As for the Government not getting a mention in all this, well I think I have mentioned the government a few times.(they are doing what has to be done....whether that is being done well is down to opinion)
As for how the TV Press conferences and how the questions from particular channels are weighted, well, forgive me, but I have seen none of these for quite a while.

The link to the Express was just as an example,there are other newspapers available out there.
As for it being a conspiracy link.....well, it definitely is not that....it is an example of how a media source can instil fear by making predictions about what might happen.
If you really want a conspiracy theory I will find one for you.
I have not a clue how many copies of this are sold in Accrington,that was not my point.
You see it how you want to see it.
I see it in a different light entirely. Nothing I say to you is going to change your mind, I can live with that.

[monkey hanger]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

So the media are not catastrophising the situation.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world...-cross-warning

what on earth is a social bomb. just more of sensational and immotive speech that we are going to have to put up with. social distancing, lockdown, isolation and others i might have missed just makes a bad situation a lot worse. the other word i have always hated is meltdown. should be left for blast furnaces if there are any left.

[Margaret Pilkington]

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ag...ncDWB83rkXFXM:
Reamer this is just for you....This is a conspiracy theory for you.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Originally Posted by monkey hanger

what on earth is a social bomb. just more of sensational and immotive speech that we are going to have to put up with. social distancing, lockdown, isolation and others i might have missed just makes a bad situation a lot worse. the other word i have always hated is meltdown. should be left for blast furnaces if there are any left.

Tell that to Reamer. He doesn't see it.
It was just an example plucked from the internet to illustrate how the media have created the monster of panic buying.
Moderate reporting would have prevented much of this....as it would have given us the facts, but also a sense of perspective too.

[monkey hanger]

[QUOTE=Margaret Pilkington;1238681]...it is an example of how a media source can instil fear by making predictions about what might happen.

might be way off the mark and probably are, but it gives an impression to me that they actually would not mind if the worst scene happened. goodness knows what their reporting would have been like in ww2. say 100 bombers raided germany, 25 shot down, 50 recieved damage and 25 arrived home safe. they,d be an outcry of the end of the raf being in sight with losses of titanic proprtions after their raf source{a ground crew private] disclosed this to our reporter in a pub near you.

[Margaret Pilkington]

That is precisely why the news was subject to D notices during the war....it was to protect the people...but then that was a totally different kettle of fish.
It was an enemy that could be seen and the enemy's actions could be predicted and anticipated.

In none of my posts do I make light of the current situation, but I do retain a sense of proportion.

[Reamer]

Tell that to Reamer. He doesn't see it.

I don't need to see it, thanks. I didn't read it. As soon as I saw Daily Express on it, I consigned it to the bin. The conspiracy theory stuff, I've seen before.