Had enough of the blame game
Posted By Tara Seel, city editor of The Daily Graphic
Posted 3 months ago
The media gets blamed for a lot of things. Sometimes fairly, sometimes unfairly. With all the public confusion surrounding the H1N1 vaccine shot, the media has a role to play, for sure, but should it shoulder all the blame? The short answer is no.
Journalists reporting on the viability, safety and availability of the H1N1 shot are also human beings wondering if they should get the shot themselves. As journalists, they are digging through the copious amounts of information available (in the form of studies, official Health Canada releases, statements from doctors, etc.) and trying to make sense of it all and put it in terms as simple and clear as possible for their audience. But the media is being blamed for causing the panic people are having over the H1N1 shot. How can that be when they are reporting the information given to them by official and authoritative sources. The problem here is not the media; it is the confusion and lack of consensus among those being looked to for advice.
One health-care official has said, "If we reacted the same way to the polio vaccine as we are to the H1N1 vaccine, polio would still be killing people regularly." Yet, on the other hand, some chiropractors and proponents of natural medicine are stating that putting the virus in one's body is bad news all around and can cause all sorts of horrific side effects.
The media reports on both sides of this story and all of a sudden, it is the bad guy — it is the media confusing everyone. Well, the truth of the matter is the media is just as confused as the public because the dissemination of information by health officials has been poorly mismanaged. Health Canada needed to step up to the plate early in the game and clear up any confusion and concern lingering in the public psyche. But they didn't do that. Health Canada needed to provide the pertinent information, not do all sorts of studies and talk abstractly about the results to people with no understanding of the medical implications of said studies. Health Canada needed to state the facts, which they are starting to do now, but a little bit too late. Some people have their minds made up absolutely either way, and there is no convincing them otherwise. But that is not the fault of the media. It is far easier to blame the messenger than those sending the message, but in this case, the bottom line is the clear and concise facts about the H1N1 vaccine need to get to the public. No more blame game. No more confusing studies and reports. Just the facts, please.
Tara Seel is the city editor of The Daily Graphic
news.dailygraphic@shawcable.com
