Swine flu circulation

After reading about Swine Flu in the Geelong Advertiser, I'm convinced the only people who want the disease in G Town are the editors. And why not, it's a great story for increasing circulations especially if there was a local angle for this story. Unfortunately for the Badvertiser, there is a big problem with the local angle. Not a health problem of course, I am talking about a reality problem.

At the time of writing there has not been one confirmed case of Swine Flu in Geelong, but that hasn't stopped the Badvertiser ramping up the fear.
Two days ago, under the dubious heading "Swine Flu on Geelong's Doorstep, the paper made the following ridiculous claim.

"Mr Andrews said the majority of the confirmed cases (in Victoria) were young people with the Al-Taqwa College in Werribee, the latest school hit."

No matter how you look at it, one student out of the 53 confirmed cases (at the time of publication) is not, a "majority."

Werribee was still too far away for a genuine local angle, so when there was a report of somone in Belmont with flu-like symptoms, the paper went into overdrive and produced this steaming turd of a front page.



Of course the test results are not in, but why wait when you can put such a definitive headline on the front page. Thanks to the Advertiser, the first confirmed victim of Swine Flu is the poor clinic where the so-called case "existed". Can you imagine the financial damage done to the business?

Swine flu is a disturbing and complex issue for plenty of people. There are serious health, financial, and social impacts associated with the disease. Journalists should take care and be totally professional with a story that can induce panic. The people associated with the swine flu coverage in the Advertiser should have a damn good look at themselves and stop printing bollocks.