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THREAD: Nate Silver explains to Brian Stelter what the media is getting wrong on COVID-19

FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver sat down with CNN’s Brian Stelter as a guest on his latest “Reliable Sources” podcast and explained what the media is getting wrong on COVID-19.

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TL;DR: Here are his 3 points:

1. I think there’s not nearly enough recognition in the media that the data we have on coronavirus is highly imperfect and this sometimes leads to misleading conclusions.

2. The next major category is not accounting enough for uncertainty. I actually think the experts have done a very good job of accounting for the major traits of COVID-19, especially if you (literally) read the fine print on what they were saying rather through the media filter.

3. Finally—I think the media spends too much time worrying about knock-off effects of their coverage, i.e. worrying about scaring people or about making them complacent, and should instead try to report the facts as straightforwardly as possible, including the many uncertainties.

And his conclusion:

The point is: this is a long game. COVID-19 will be with us for a while. Maybe if we’re very smart/lucky, it will have become less of a problem by the fall or by next spring. But those are optimistic scenarios. It could take years. So maintaining reader trust will be essential.

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