PESTILENCE THAT STALKS
Germs, disease, viruses and bacteria breed fear that threatens human community life. Whenever there is some new outbreak, society can go into meltdown. Often the media seem skewed towards the delivery of bad news as it creates more reaction, sells more newspapers and improves viewing figures. When pestilence of any kind stalks the streets, you can be sure that a journalist is not far away. All of this feeds the fear of the crowd, leading to mass insecurity, selfish bulk buying and a breakdown of community interaction.
- ‘There is a type of snobbish, pompous journalist who thinks that the only news that has any validity is war, famine, pestilence or politics. I don’t come from that school’ – Piers Morgan
- ‘Headlines, in a way, are what mislead you because bad news is a headline, and gradual improvement is not’ – Bill Gates