BF
I think the quality of the coronavirus coverage has varied between the broadcasters really. There's certainly been a great quantity of coverage about it but at times not enough quality or context - which arguably has added to the panic.
Having bulletins dominated by it and a lot of reporting of the worst case scenarios and talk without much context of 'lockdowns' elsewhere (without saying how likely this is in the UK and how soon it may be likely) and breathless reporting of numbers infected or impacted (which of course will rightly be reported and needs mentioned) fuels the sort of panic we've seen with stockpiling of toilet roll and the like. It's one issue many a news broadcaster has had in recent years - breathless reporting but not enough context and explanation and asking of questions that Joe Bloggs would want to know/needs the answer to. I remember mentioning an ITV news bulletin here last week that didn't give much context and seem to go for the more alarmist, sensationalist style of coverage with might, may and could doing overly heavy lifting.
Somewhat surprisingly, I think CNNI's coverage has been far better than most. At the start they did seem overly obsessed by the 'Diamond Princess' ship but they seem much better at analysing and providing context and making the fact clear from fiction. QMB tonight has been superb for example - pointing out the very real risks markets are facing and stressing how big a story this is but also emphasising that markets are better placed to cope than 11-12 years ago so not unnecessarily fueling panic.
Having bulletins dominated by it and a lot of reporting of the worst case scenarios and talk without much context of 'lockdowns' elsewhere (without saying how likely this is in the UK and how soon it may be likely) and breathless reporting of numbers infected or impacted (which of course will rightly be reported and needs mentioned) fuels the sort of panic we've seen with stockpiling of toilet roll and the like. It's one issue many a news broadcaster has had in recent years - breathless reporting but not enough context and explanation and asking of questions that Joe Bloggs would want to know/needs the answer to. I remember mentioning an ITV news bulletin here last week that didn't give much context and seem to go for the more alarmist, sensationalist style of coverage with might, may and could doing overly heavy lifting.
Somewhat surprisingly, I think CNNI's coverage has been far better than most. At the start they did seem overly obsessed by the 'Diamond Princess' ship but they seem much better at analysing and providing context and making the fact clear from fiction. QMB tonight has been superb for example - pointing out the very real risks markets are facing and stressing how big a story this is but also emphasising that markets are better placed to cope than 11-12 years ago so not unnecessarily fueling panic.
