Saturday, April 25, 2020

John Oliver and Washington Post examine coronavirus misinformation

I closed Comments from the ninth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News for Flashback Friday by telling my readers to "In the meantime, stay tuned for something about the COVID-19 pandemic tomorrow.  Back to reality, even if I'm in an "I can't be all DOOM all the time" mood."  I'm going to ease into our current crisis with Last Week Tonight with John Oliver's latest on the crisis, Coronavirus V, an update to John Oliver on coronavirus and More John Oliver on coronavirus.*

As COVID-19 continues to dominate the news cycle, John Oliver looks at the various sources of misinformation about the disease - from televangelists and the right wing media, to President Trump himself.
John Oliver recorded this clip on Saturday and HBO broadcast and uploaded it on Sunday, which is why Operation Gridlock protest in Lansing had such a featured position.  However, it ended up being prescient, as Donald Trump himself spread new misinformation this week, which the Washington Post examined in Opinion | The Trump-Fox News coronavirus misinformation campaign has real consequences.

Speculation by Fox News and the president about covid-19 cures is making it more difficult for health officials to do their job, says media critic Erik Wemple. The network and Trump promoted the unproven effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine, a drug prescribed for lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases. And most recently, the president suggested disinfectant could cure the coronavirus, forcing health officials to work overtime to warn people not to drink or inject Lysol.
The day after he suggested disinfectant and ultraviolet light as treatments, #TidePodPresident trended on Twitter, which prompted me to tweet the link to Laundry Detergent Shot from Tipsy Bartender.

This one resembles a tide pod but it certainly tastes better than one!
It's also safer, not only than a Tide Pod, but Clorox and Lysol as well.

Stay tuned for next week's Sunday entertainment feature.  I originally planned to post marching music for the Puerto Rico Primary, but that's been postponed indefinitely, so I'm not sure what I'll write.  Maybe I'll follow up on Coffee Party USA invites you to watch these political movies while staying safe at home with shortlists of actors from feature films and public figures from documentaries.  Any of my readers have other suggestions?  Leave them in the comments!

*Oliver's public feud with AT&T reminds me of David Letterman's feud with General Electric when he was on NBC.  Letterman later left for CBS.  I'll let my readers decide if that was bad or good for Letterman.

2 comments:

  1. Dude, it IS "all DOOM all the time".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, I know. It's just that I can't keep my mood there all the time.

      Delete