Headlines everywhere are reverting back to COVID19 scare tactics. 'Experts Predict Second Arizona Shutdown As Coronavirus Cases Increase' was the headline on one Phoenix based website. Other news outlets have thrust the number of new cases and deaths to the top of their web pages.
Gone are the websites filled with stories about George Floyd's murder in Minneapolis. Gone are the stories about riots. Even stories about the remaining protests have mostly vanished. Police reform is gone. Defund the police stories have also disappeared.
Why?
The media is afraid to talk about race. Most don't know how to talk about the subject. So they are playing it safe and switching back to COVID19. This way they don't get caught up in any controversy. Controversy that could cause them to get fired.
That's not how you lead.
They stoked the flames. Then the flames become too hot. So they backed off and went back to the COVID19 safe zone.
While it is true the number of cases of COVID19 is increasing across the state and the case count has been since the state lifted the stay at home order. This is a newsworthy but, the increase was expected. Both COVID19 and police reform can be covered at the same time.
Not in 2020. Not the way the media is set up now.
Here's the other part. The numbers only tell us part of the virus' story. We still don't know where people are getting the disease. We aren't even really sure how it is spreading. Or at the very least the state government isn't telling us how.
They aren't telling us how many people are contagious right now nor are is the state government telling us how severe the symptoms of the new cases are.
The state is also being very quiet about nursing home infections and deaths despite evidence a sad number of fatal cases have happened in long-term care facilities. The media isn't really talking much about that either.
Clearly, they are only interested in scaring us to keep us tuned in.