[Pierre]

Originally Posted by jonbxx

It's a tough one for the BBC. They (like other Public Service Broadcasting channels) have a statutory duty to inform the public in an unbiased way. However, a balance has to be struck as to whether the news they broadcast is in the public interest.

One thing that has become clear is that peoples attitude to risk with COVID is shaky at best (not here of course, we're all geniuses here) People tend to see things as 100% risky or 0% risky and not much in between. Reporting the risk of Omicron has to be done very carefully as people might interpret a lower risk as zero risk and the whole COVID thing is over now.

It does look very much like people have taken the risk of Omicron seriously and have adjusted their behaviours accordingly for better or for worse if you are in the hospitality business for example. Towns are comparatively empty right now. This of course is following the Government take on people deciding for themselves how they react. Without opening a lockdown can of worms here, it could be argued that this public led 'lockdown' is having an effect in slowing the growth rate in cases. If this is the case, then people relaxing now will have the opposite effect and the rate will go up again.

I don't know if there's pressure on the Public Service Broadcasters from the Government on how to report issues around COVID but there is a duty to not report in way that could be interpreted by the reader/listener/viewer as a licence to undertake harmful behaviours.

In short, it's tough for organisations to report in a way that is both informative but also positive to the public good. Sometimes, they get it wrong, sometimes they get it right. In the BBC case, my feeling is that it could be interpreted by the layman that there is no link between the rise in cases and deaths. At present, the link isn't there but it's still early days due to the lag between the two - we need to see the whole disease cycle from infection, through hospitalisation to either deaths or going home.. That report didn't show that clearly.

A state broadcaster that dances to the tune of the government is a dangerous thing.