2020 has been full of mass panic over the coronavirus, from panic buying to isolating from family and friends, but what many fail to realise is that many members of the media have played a very intense and important part in most of the uproar and panic that they have caused the nation from the onset of the virus.
The first lock down was put into place by First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon in Scotland on March 21st, and six months later, in September, Scotland are now seeing a rise in positive cases meaning Scotland has now been placed into their second lock down. Just as everything was beginning to get back on track, back to normal we begin to see a second spike.
Testing for the virus has majorly increased over the past few weeks, which meant more positive cases were being found. Many reporters from a variety of different media sources have used this to their advantage and shared information to the public panicking them about the major rise in positive cases, failing to mention this is partly due to the increase in testing, therefore the general public are being kept in the dark over many aspects of the virus and are failing to see the bigger picture.
Many members of the media are making their money from scaremongering the public, forcing them to look at negatives because most people see those stories as more interesting and insightful, when really Scotland has made great progress over the past few months. Increased testing and a decline in numbers of deaths when compared to the start of the spread in March are only some of the many positives that the media fail to get across to us.
First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon is a culprit of scaremongering when it comes to the virus. Sturgeon ramps up the fear factor and in recent weeks since the reopening of schools, has caused many panicked parents due to information that there has been a rise in children testing positive for the virus. However, upon further inspection, children are actually less affected, and are shown to experience the virus very differently and less critically compared to an older person, who if they got the virus it could be critical.
On April 9th, there was a peak of 108 people dying from the virus on that single day. If you compare that to today, September 16th, there was 1 single death from the virus. This shows that Scotland has made major progress with the virus as a nation. We have slowed the spread significantly, saved lives, cared for the vulnerable and even paved the way for whatever the future may hold when it comes to the coronavirus. This is a positive that we have to be reminded of before we open our local newspaper and are bombarded by articles full of doom and gloom information. This is a cause for celebration, something Scotland should be proud of and not something to be disregarded or swept aside by several reporters and journalists across Scotland reporting for the media.
