America not in a state of Ebola hysteria quite yet: Study

OPINION:

No, America is not in a state of Ebola hysteria just yet. Though National Institutes of Health infectious disease director Dr. Anthony Fauci, describes the nation’s reaction to Ebola as “an epidemic of fear,” some new cultural evidence makes it clear that there’s concern, yes, but panic, no.

A study of 10 days of Ebola coverage in major print and electronic media sources by the Global Language Monitor has found little evidence of “hysteria,” “hysterical thinking,” or “panic” but an overabundance of the words “fear” and “concern” reports chief analyst Paul JJ Payack.

“Since President Obama issued his warning on ’hysteria and hysterical thinking,’ the media have taken up the cry, yet there is little evidence of any such reactions actually occurring,” he says.

“However, we are seeing a very large uptick in references to ’fear’ and ’concern’ - and for good reason since nearly every projection on the course of the epidemic by the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control, and the administration have proven false. The American people are seeing a large disparity between what they are being told, and what they see with their own eyes.”

Some news organizations were attuned to panic, the analysis found. The New York Times and Washington Post each mentioned “hysteria” nearly 10 times as often as the Dallas Morning News, which at one point was at the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak.