You know how it’s always important to read past the headline? That’s especially important when dealing with CNN, whose tweet about Navy hospital ships being deployed to help with the coronavirus epidemic suggested they might as well not bother:
Defense Secretary Mark Esper confirms Navy hospital ships won't treat coronavirus patients and will take weeks to deploy https://t.co/wBasGfFrm0 pic.twitter.com/ZuZHlQd1dK
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) March 19, 2020
The lead paragraph of CNN’s story also paints a pretty bleak picture: “Defense Secretary Mark Esper made clear to CNN that two Navy hospital ships being deployed to help respond to the coronavirus outbreak will not treat patients suffering from the virus and will take weeks to deploy.”
That’s because they’re not being deployed to help treat coronavirus patients.
It’s not intended to treat coronavirus patients. It’s intended to alleviate stress on the system by taking other patients so hospitals can take coronavirus patients
— Sunny McSunnyface (@sunnyright) March 19, 2020
They know that, they don’t care
— Everything Is Stupid (@laura_Co_9) March 19, 2020
Here we go again with headlines intended to mislead. Great work CNN.
— TheeAmishMasterJedi (@MrAmishMan) March 19, 2020
Very misleading headline
— Steve Pancratz (@Archer_of_3) March 19, 2020
Alyssa Farah is the Pentagon press secretary:
Hey @CNNPolitics – this is super misleading. The USNS Comfort & Mercy will treat trauma & other emergency cases to help ease overflow at hospitals to free up capacity & resources to treat more COVID patients. https://t.co/SGmfTY3hOu
— Alyssa Farah (@Alyssafarah) March 19, 2020
That's SO unlike CNN! ??
— The Truth Hurts (@oneato) March 19, 2020
The only leading CNN does is misleading.
— Jules of Denial (@Coolish_Breeze) March 19, 2020
These hospital ships don’t sit with a ton of medical supplies and personnel on board to *wait* for something that might happen. It takes about 5 days to call in personnel and stock with the correct supplies. Also food, water, fuel, laundry facilities etc.
— ❌ Carol Greenberg (@LadyImpactOhio) March 19, 2020
Looks like CNN gave it another shot:
NEW: Navy hospital ship expected to deploy to the Seattle area to assist with coronavirus relief efforts in the next five to 10 days https://t.co/N87ZLCwkzW pic.twitter.com/aN3xzGHnv8
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) March 19, 2020
Better headline. A life highlight was getting to tour the USNS Comfort. These teams do amazing work treating patients around the globe. https://t.co/NgA266WKHD
— Alyssa Farah (@Alyssafarah) March 19, 2020
CNN’s story reads: “The Comfort, which is on the East Coast, should be ready in a couple weeks — plus, the Mercy, which is on the West Coast, should be ready in a week and a half, two weeks, definitely before the end of this month the Mercy will deploy,” Esper told CNN’s Jake Tapper Wednesday.
But at least that first tweet gave more fuel to the narrative that the Trump administration botched the response to the coronavirus threat.
Related:
‘Dumbest headline of the week?’ CNN’s report about ‘potential shock’ for Trump while in India has Pulitzer written all over it https://t.co/ye3FLBds5p
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) February 24, 2020
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