How to grab global headlines
Grabbing the headlines world-wide is a doddle, says Dougal Paver. Just shout 'pandemic!'
Now don't misjudge me by that opening paragraph: more than a hundred families are mourning the loss of loved ones in Mexico and I know what that feels like. Whilst it may be the cycle of life, it's particularly hard when they're snatched away from you out of the blue, as they are with swine flu.
Thing is, out of the 100 who have died, only 20 have been confirmed as having the deadly H1N1 strain. All were in Mexico City.
Charge up the popular imagination, of course, and all of a sudden the more fretful among us imagine that they're next. One snotty nose later and they're on a gurney thinking they're about to breathe their last.
Of course, setting people up to be more vigilant is a sensible way of creating the conditions to help halt the spread of such a disease. Headlines matter in this context.
But they also matter when you're reliant on public sector donations to keep you in business, just like the World Health Organisation who, erm, are the ones shouting 'pandemic!'
Forgive me, but weren't they also the people who predicted the end of the world as we know it with ebola and bird flu?
Reminds me, of course, of the little boy crying wolf. If that's how donor governments view this latest incident then WHO's media management strategy might need a re-think.
COMMENTS
Mark McNulty - Mon 27th Apr 2009
True enough way of looking at things though it got me thinking abut it in a different way and how it's possibly a way of looking at world poverty. In Mexico the flu kills people but with possibly healthier New Zealand sufferers, the same strain is just flu.
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