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Avoid This Kind of Coverage Like the Plague Jim Naureckas ([link removed])


NYT: Bubonic Plague Found in a Herder in Inner Mongolia, China Says

An isolated case of bubonic plague in Inner Mongolia isn't likely to cause problems elsewhere in China, let alone in the rest of the world—but the New York Times (7/6/20 ([link removed]) ) thought you should know about it anyway.

"Bubonic Plague Found in a Herder in Inner Mongolia, China Says," read the New York Times headline (7/6/20 ([link removed]) ). "A city put control measures in place after one confirmed case of the disease, which caused the Black Death in the Middle Ages," the subhead elaborated. The story's lead described the case as "a reminder of how even as the world battles a pandemic caused by a novel virus, old threats remain."

In the article's last paragraph, Times Hong Kong correspondent Austin Ramzy acknowledged that cases of the plague are not so novel:

Plague cases are found in limited numbers across much of the world. In the United States, about seven cases, usually the bubonic form, are reported on average each year, most often in rural areas of Western states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ([link removed]) says.

The Times was not the only Western outlet to see the Inner Mongolian plague case as a story. Bloomberg (7/5/20 ([link removed]) ) seems to have kicked off the coverage, in a story originally headlined "Does Bubonic Plague Still Exist? China Confirms Case." The Bloomberg report noted:

While the ailment is treatable, unlike the novel pathogen which has caused the ongoing pandemic ([link removed]) , Chinese health authorities are wary of any infectious disease spreading after a hard-fought containment of the coronavirus outbreak.

The BBC (7/6/20 ([link removed]) ) had the headline "China Bubonic Plague: Inner Mongolia Takes Precautions After Case," but the story reassured: "The bubonic plague was once the world's most feared disease, but can now be easily treated.... It's unlikely any cases will lead to an epidemic."

Newsweek's story, "What Is Bubonic Plague? China's Inner Mongolia Reports 'Black Death' Case" (7/6/20 ([link removed]) ), reminded readers:

The Yersinia pestis bacteria was the cause of the Black Death—widely considered to be the deadliest pandemic in human history, which killed anywhere between 75 and 200 million people across Europe, Asia and North Africa in the 14th century.

"While cases of are rare today, outbreaks do still occur—although modern treatments have significantly reduced the mortality of the disease," Newsweek went on to say.
Bloomberg: China Confirms Case of Bubonic Plague In Inner Mongolia

Bloomberg (7/5/20 ([link removed]) ) seems to have been the first Western outlet to sound the false alarm.

USA Today (7/8/20 ([link removed]) ) had a "factcheck" that reported, "The World Health Organization considers the threat of a bubonic plague outbreak minimal"—but not before telling readers in the lead that "diseases will thrive in whatever vector they're given."

New York Post (7/6/20 ([link removed]) ) went the "news you can use" route, with "What Is Bubonic Plague and How Is It Treated?"

Here's a more useful question: Why is this story news?

As the various articles do a better or worse job of explaining, bubonic plague is a disease that's been around for centuries; some people get it every year, in the United States as well as in China, but it's easily controllable with antibiotics. There's essentially zero chance that a case found in Inner Mongolia will spark an epidemic that will reach Beijing, let alone the other side of the world.

So why does this medical misfortune, one of hundreds of cases of plague that will occur worldwide this year, deserve a story in major news outlets? A microbiologist quoted in another BBC piece (7/6/20 ([link removed]) ) provides a clue: "Although this might appear alarming, being another major infectious disease emerging from the East, it appears to be a single suspected case which can be readily treated."

"Another major infectious disease emerging from the East"—well, that sounds like a story, doesn't it, in the sense of fitting in with longstanding, emotionally resonant preconceptions? And not just anywhere in the East; there were a handful of cases that appeared earlier this year in Mongolia, but they didn't get coverage of their own, because Mongolia doesn't play the role that China does in the corporate media imagination of powerful, sinister rival (FAIR.org, 5/7/20 ([link removed]) , 5/15/20 ([link removed]) , 6/21/20 ([link removed]) ).

In other words, bubonic plague in Inner Mongolia is more newsworthy than the same disease in New Mexico because it plays into racist stereotypes. Media commentators rightly scorn Donald Trump talking about the "Chinese virus ([link removed]) " and the "kung flu ([link removed]) "—but this kind of medical cherrypicking is just as pernicious.
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Featured image: BBC image (7/6/20 ([link removed]) ) of a medieval plague mask, used to illustrate a story about a disease that no longer causes mass death.
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