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Over at The Press newspaper, my brother Colin thinks the swine flu story is a world wide media beat up. My old boss Bill Ralston, writing on the same Fairfax media site does, too.
They're probably right. I hope they are and I think the scale of the reaction is one of the main reasons we're likely to avert any real crisis in New Zealand.
The country's unofficial motto - "she'll be right mate" - doesn't ring true anymore, especially when it comes to public health scares. We are zealots when it comes to planning to prevent them.
Why are we so prepared for an outbreak of swine flu ? Because we were so paranoid about bird flu a few years back that we stock piled 1.25 million doses of Tamiflu - enough to drug up a third of the population.
As a highly literate country, mostly speaking the same language and consuming large doses of excitable media, often with little real news to report on, we also digest the message of any health scare in a real hurry.
Remember the foot and mouth scare a couple of years back? Some nutter claimed to have released the virus on Waiheke Island. The country swung into full scale alert, with MAF at the helm.
In fact New Zealand must be one of the only countries in the world where "exercises" actually make the news.
At TVNZ we once ran several stories in one bulletin, including a live report, on an "exercise" for a tsunami evacuation .
This, I argue, is a good thing. It means that usually we stomp on problems before they really become problems.
Governments help too. Politically the risk of underplaying a crisis is far greater than overplaying it, so ministers are quite happy for their grave tones to be carried on the airwaves.
Prime Minister John Key and Health Minister Tony Ryall have handled things well - appearing serious but not panicked ; seeming competent, informed and reassuring.
It is interesting to note though how our tolerance and perception of danger, harm and crisis has changed.
We in the media all describe the current economic crisis as the worst since the Great Depression followed the 1929 Wall St stockmarket crash. We do so because all the experts - from the heads of global financial institutions, through to our own central bank governor and finance minister - tell us it is so.
But is there really any comparison? When you read about unemployment rates in the Great Depression, they went above 20%. Currently New Zealand hasn't yet breached 5%. Some people are doing it tough but there are not mass work gangs of men building roads for a pittance.
I guess I'm particularly drawn to compare and contrast our perception of hardship and crisis because we've just marked ANZAC day , an occasion when some astounding stories of bravery are aired in our newspapers and television screens. In a life boat fleeing from a ship sunken by Japanese gun fire, one man, Phillip Wallace Smith, simply jumped overboard to make way for someone else and died a lonely death. That's an act of selflessness few us can now understand. Without mass media to capture his story it largely disappeared, as he did.
On Monday a New Zealander on board a cruise liner attacked by Somali bandits sent a text message to a friend saying the ship was under fire from pirates and the news was almost instantly relayed to the world.
Yes, the media does scream alarm at high volume, almost every minute, on every screen.
Yes, it is a bit breathless at times.
But you can be sure of one thing: when there's a health scare, you can't say you weren't warned.
What do you think of the issues Guyon is discussing? Share them on the messageboard below.
Add a Comment:
Post new commentalwyn said on 2009-06-18 @ 14:34 NZDT: Report abusive post
The general flu causes between 200,000 and 250,000 deaths p.a world wide. Swine flu has caused only a fraction of this number in proportion. There is a temporary cure i.e. Tami flu until a vaccine is produced for H1N1 flu. I don't understand what all the fuss is about?
Janey said on 2009-06-16 @ 09:36 NZDT: Report abusive post
I think NZ media and health service has been far too blase about this outbreak. The UK's BBC news website has been reporting symptoms and PREVENTION for weeks and has an excellent outbreak map, which clearly shows quick acceleration of the virus. The UK's health service posted information leaflets to every home WEEKS ago. My husband works in a a business where the workers come into contact with lots tourists - they only just received a booklet on the virus 2 days ago. NZ, get with the programme!
skeptic said on 2009-06-16 @ 07:57 NZDT: Report abusive post
Thank you Mark Sainsbury for telling us the symptoms, and debunking the mythology. Many of us did not even know that we probably have the swine flu which is probably now widespread in our community. It was clear from the outset that authorities were not taking the drastic steps necessary to contain an epidemic. Since they have created an elaborate ritual to prove that they have done everything possible ... Thank God this was not a SERIOUS pandemic.
FightFlu said on 2009-05-04 @ 23:41 NZDT: Report abusive post
I absolutely agree Tis, this particular virus could have been a lot worse. Due to information technology these days we have highly accessible and up to date information to keep us informed, and with knowledge is power. As long as the people remain calm, and keep informed we should be able to keep the Swine Flu at a safe distance.
Tis said on 2009-05-02 @ 11:33 NZDT: Report abusive post
This scare could perhaps prepare us well for a more severe future pandemic - e.g. Ok, so all the focus is on Tamiflu - but what about ensuring enough antibiotics to treat secondary infections from a new influenca - and do we have enough of those machines in hospitals to help people breath when they are in acute respiratory distress - lets hope so!