Sunday, October 19, 2014

Ebola and Media Bias

Alyssa Keefe
ak757211@ohio.edu

Ebola. It's been the top news story for the past few weeks. Some people are worried; others are rolling their eyes at those individuals freaking out. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Ebola hemorrhagic fever is known to be a "rare and deadly disease caused by infection with one of the Ebola virus strains." It is found in humans and primates, such as monkeys, gorillas and chimpanzees. It is spread through bodily fluids, like sweat, feces, vomit, urine and saliva. Currently, Ebola is killing thousands of people in West African countries and just recently made its way into the United States. Ever since three people, one visitor from Africa and two nurses, have been diagnosed with Ebola, the media has been turning this into an unnecessary nightmare.

Photo credit: NBC News

Much of the media's attention is on the three patients who were diagnosed with Ebola; one of whom passed away and two are currently fighting the disease. The media is portraying this disease as something that will wipe out the entire country. The media is not releasing the real facts behind the disease and how difficult it truly is to catch it, which is something they need to bring attention to.

Lack of objectivity is a huge issue today in journalism. Sometimes the media portrays a subject in the wrong way and even favor a side more than the other. According to the Columbia Journalism Review article about re-thinking objectivity, Michael Bugeja states objectivity as "seeing the world as it is, not how you wish it were." The media can be bias and has recently been biased towards the Ebola coverage.

Some news organizations are overhyping the disease, warning people to take precaution. They are not necessarily stating how difficult it is to get the disease, which is a very rare chance, unless you happen to touch an infected person's bodily fluids. Not only is the media overhyping Ebola, racism is starting to come into play. Andrea Tantaros, a reporter on the Fox show Outnumbered, talked about possible Ebola carriers coming to the United States from Africa where they do not have proper medical care. She stated that someone could "get off a flight and seek treatment from a witch doctor..."

Some people considered the statement to be racist, ignorant and offensive. However, when you think about it, the First World discovers the drugs to fight these deadly diseases, like Ebola and AIDS, not the Third World. Honestly, the media can be insensitive and sometimes racist.

When any big story happens, especially involving African Americans, the truth can be twisted. Take Jesse Jackson, for example. Jackson believes that the first patient in the U.S. to die from Ebola, Thomas Eric Duncan, had not received proper medical care because he was African American. It is news stories like these that make people question whether or not they should believe and trust the media.

Therefore, bias is not a stranger today in the media, especially during this hectic time of Ebola. There is a lack of diversity and an increase in stereotypes in the reporting and the media is not letting the people affected by Ebola have a voice in the coverage. Blame is being put on people regardless of what truly happened. The bias in the media today is only causing people to worry more than they should be.

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