Ebola The Mass Media and You

The world is afraid, very afraid of the Ebola virus.  But what has transpired to make this disease become the most feared tormentor of the human mind?  In a recent article titled, "Calm down about Ebola already", the author offers a great antidote to that question.  Ebola is a highly contagious and  deadly disease.  Even the image of it makes one's skin crawl.  I liked how the author began her column by stating what the disease was and the imminent threat that it could become to the U.S., but she also clarified the fact that this disease could only be spread through the contact of bodily fluids, and the fact that the disease could be easily contained.  She attempted to calm the fears of Americans.
But she also identified the chief contributors to the mass hysteria that has sprung up in the U.S. because of this disease.

The media's job is to inform the public about issues that the general populace should be concerned about.  However in this case the media has done nothing but caused panic and mass hysteria.  The media sources that you and I trust to inform us have been feeding our minds with fear of the disease by showing images of its effects.  For example in the article the author mentioned that CNN ran the absurd headline "Ebola: The ISIS of Biological Agents?".  Another writer speculated that the disease would "run rampart through the country".  I've seen nearly everyday an ugly image of the disease on a slide, it looks like a worm swimming in blood.  Its no wonder that we are panicking about this disease.  To make matters worse the news has been bringing political figures into the debate, speculating who is to blame for the disease being in the U.S.  Keep it simple all we need is to be informed.  The media has us focused on fear.  They seem to have forgotten the success of the American that overcame the disease and is now home with his family.  They should be instilling hope and they should be focused on what we are doing well.

Furthermore these political figures are also feeding the fire.  I disagree with author's argument that the  Republicans are using the panic of this disease as a way to score political points.  The fact of the matter is the public needs to be informed of what is going on.  Some one has to decide what to do about it in case there was an outbreak.  I think that they are making an attempt to get Washington's attention to take countermeasures.  These political figures have great power and influence on the public mind instead of debating publicly about the issue they could use that political influence to state the fact that here in the U.S. we have the advantage to fight this disease.

I have to admit that this disease scares me somewhat too, but I have to agree with the author, "Fear-mongering about Ebola is an easy way to get ratings or score political points, all without having to talk about---much less do anything about---real problems that are facing this country".  Instead of  generating fear in the public mind why not focus on the issues that matter most.