One Million Dead from COVID Is Not Normal

• Published in: Scientific American 2022-06, Vol.326 (6), p.10
• Main Author: Thrasher, Steven W
• Format: Magazinearticle
• Language: English
• Subjects: COVID-19; Fatalities; News media; Pandemics; Political parties; Public opinion; Social networks
• ISSN: 0036-8733; 1946-7087

Despite being the wealthiest nation on the planet, the U.S. has continued to have by far the most COVID infections and deaths per country: one million dead, with no end in sight This is an unfathomable number, yet in contrast to the beginning of the pandemic, the news media has often downplayed the one-million mark. In May 2020 the New York Times ran a sympathetic headline reading "U.S. Deaths Near 100,000, an Incalculable Loss," using its entire front page to print names of some of the deceased. But when the death toll reached nine times that number, the Times callously wrote, "900,000 Dead, but Many Americans Move On." The Times wasn't alone; several large mainstream publications, as well as politicians of both major political parties, have been beating a drum to get "back to normal".for months. The effect has been the manufactured consent to normalize mass death and suffering to subtly suggest to Americans that they want to move on. The media has helped to shape public opinion so business can return to the very circumstances that created this ongoing crisis. A return to normal would allow companies to reap profits, while some people work in relative safety from their homes (the target audience of many news organizations' advertisers) at the expense of more vulnerable people who must work or study in person.