Many in media strive for calm with flu story

updated 11:25 a.m. ET April 30, 2009

NEW YORK - Dr. Ed Craig figured when called upon by MSNBC for studio commentary on swine flu that his job was to calm people down.

But Craig, a professor of clinical surgery at Cornell Medical School, found Wednesday that it wasn’t really necessary. As the story of the epidemic spread rapidly over the past few days, the coverage may be most notable for the caution displayed by media outlets who most often throw it to the wind.

“I’ve been very impressed by the recognition from the beginning that we had a real responsibility here to keep things in perspective,” said Rome Hartman, executive producer of “BBC World News America.” “We got an e-mail last weekend saying let’s make sure we’re paying attention to this story and covering it as competitively as we can but also understand the responsibility not to be hyperbolic. I know every news organization has been having that conversation.” (Msnbc.com is a joint venture between NBC Universal and Microsoft).

It’s a given now that every big story is overblown by the 24-hour cable news networks because of all the time they need to fill and a short attention span.

Yet swine flu has yet to dominate the airwaves that way. Coverage of President Barack Obama’s 100-day marker and the party affiliation switch of Sen. Arlen Specter have taken as much time. There’s been the usual number of “breaking news” or “news alert” graphics, but CNN has quietly phased out an alarmist graphic showing a man in a face mask.

“While the volume (of stories) would suggest we are in some kind of pandemic, the tone of the content has been calmer than that,” said Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism.

Craig suggested that was due in part to the response of federal health authorities, who have frequently made themselves available for news conferences.

Q&A Swine flu Learn about the virus found in pigs and why it is causing concern among health officials. msnbc.com

“I think they have been responsible and upfront,” he said, “and I think it probably reflects this administration’s early attempts to let people know what they know and to say it if they don’t know the answer.”

Many newspaper headlines stopped short of screaming: “Relax, Don’t Panic,” urged the front of the Casper Star-Tribune in Wyoming. “Michiganders, Don’t Panic Over Swine Flu Yet,” said the Detroit Free Press. “People Urged Not to Panic Over Flu,” said the Tulsa (Okla.) World.

The Columbus Dispatch in Ohio hedged its bets: “Fear? Or Fear Not?”

It’s never unanimous, of course. The Boston Herald reacted to the first local cases Thursday with a menacing illustration of a person in a mask, goggles and full decontamination suit, with the headline, “Killer Flu Stalks Mass.” The New York Daily News sent a reporter walking through the city in a face mask to gauge reaction, and he was stopped by a British TV crew wanting to film him. A newspaper reporter interviewing passengers coming off a plane from Mexico in the Newark, N.J., airport wore rubber gloves.

A television station in Orlando caused a stir by reporting that a Mexican tourist visiting Walt Disney World was Florida’s first swine flu victim. The state called a news conference to deny the report.

When editors at the San Antonio (Texas) Express-News learned last week of the city’s first two confirmed swine flu cases, they debated even putting it into the paper. They decided to run a short story that ran on the back of the local news section, said Jamie Stockwell, deputy metro editor.

The story has exploded in all directions since then, but editors are being careful to keep things in perspective, she said.

“We’ve lived through 9/11,” Stockwell said. “We’ve lived through anthrax scares. We’ve lived through the threat of terrorists and through mass shootings on campuses. To add to the collective fear of our residents of perhaps a virus or illness that could kill them, that would be completely irresponsible to press it that far.”

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