Inside the Beltway: Media falls for disinformation about coronavirus

NEWS AND OPINION:

The persistence of troubling and destructive disinformation about the coronavirus has become a global challenge. Members of the British Parliament issued a new report this week clearly stating that disinformation about COVID-19 “has already cost lives” and that officials must “confront and rebut disinformation spread by foreign powers.”

In mid-March, the world’s seven largest social-media networks pledged to jointly combat “fraud and misinformation” about COVID-19. The Carnegie Mellon University Center for Informed Democracy and Social Cybersecurity is now tracking coronavirus misinformation and disinformation spread via social media, while the Federal Emergency Management Agency has launched a dedicated “Coronavirus Rumor Control” website.

These are but four of the worldwide remedial efforts under way to quash the phenomenon as nations seek their own means to protect both the truth and the public. News organizations are not always on the same page. Some now note that the U.S. media appears to have a weakness for fraudulent disinformation and authoritative rumors.

“It should not be this easy for Chinese Communist Party propaganda to make its way into major American newsrooms. Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, which Chinese lies ensured would become a pandemic, American news media have promoted a number of Beijing-approved talking points, including the one that alleges it is racist to refer to the virus by its country and city of origin,” notes a Washington Examiner editorial.

The editorial specifically cites the New York Times, Bloomberg and NBC News among those news organizations which have “little if any skepticism” of the information they are encountering.

“Whether they know it or not, the journalists who claim it is problematic to refer to the virus by its country and city of origin, and the ones who claim China has the pandemic mostly under control, and who praise China’s efforts to help other countries are doing the bidding of the Chinese Communist Party, which is eager both to present itself as the world’s leading superpower and scrub from the record its culpability in the spread of the virus,” the Examiner concluded.

SOMEWHAT ASTONISHING HEADLINE

“Consider the possibility that President Trump Is right about China: Critics are letting their disdain for the president blind them to geopolitical realities,” notes a new headline in The Atlantic.

WORKERS GETTING COZY AT HOME

Americans are often surprisingly adaptable during a challenge — and a new Gallup poll reveals that this knack for flexibility is emerging during the coronavirus pandemic.

“American workers are increasingly doing their jobs from home as a result of the coronavirus crisis, and the latest Gallup Panel data show that they are warming up to the experience,” writes Gallup analyst Megan Brenan, who reports that 62% of U.S. workers have been working at home during the crisis — a percentage that has doubled since mid-March.

Of that number, 59% say that once restrictions on businesses are lifted, they would still like to “work remotely as much as possible.” The rest — 41% — favor a return to the office.

The Gallup survey of 2,276 employed U.S. adults was conducted March 28-April 2 and released Monday.

CUOMO, BIDEN NOW NECK AND NECK

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has spent many days in front of TV cameras making his state’s case during the coronavirus response — and making an impression as well. The outspoken governor is now tied with former Vice President Joseph R. Biden as the likely Democratic nominee for president, according to a Rasmussen Reports national survey released Monday.

The new poll of 1,000 likely voters conducted April 2-5 found that 46% of likely Democratic voters still think Mr. Biden would make a better presidential candidate for their party.

“But just as many (45%) opt for Cuomo instead, even though he isn’t even in the race,” the poll reported.

Only 9% are undecided. Mr. Cuomo has also made an impression on the rest of the nation.

“Among all likely voters, it’s Biden 38%, Cuomo 38%, with 24% not sure,” the poll analysis said.

Opinion pages have already broached the possibility of Mr. Cuomo as the nominee.

“Andrew Cuomo for president? Joe Biden should make it happen,” Craig Snyder wrote in a Philadelphia Inquirer op-ed published Monday.

The former chief of staff for the late Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania advised Mr. Biden to step aside “out of a calling to do something good.”

The situation marks the end of a long road for the field of Democratic presidential hopefuls — who included lawmakers, business tycoons and initially numbered 20 when the Democratic debates got underway on June 12, 2019.

QUARANTINES: LEGAL EXPERTS HAVE A SAY

The Federalist Society hosts a teleforum Tuesday titled “Viral Menace and Civil Liberty,” with esteemed legal scholars Richard A. Epstein and Anthony Kreis discussing the complex social ramification resulting from the coronavirus pandemic and its accompanying social restrictions.

The open forum begins at 1:30 p.m. EDT and can be accessed through FedSoc.org. “This call is open to the public — please dial 888/752-3232 to access the call,” the organization advises.

POLL DU JOUR

• 55% of populations in 15 major countries experiencing the coronavirus pandemic are “concerned for those who are vulnerable or weak.”

• 53% are “impatient to get back to normal life.”

• 53% think it is likely the pandemic will bring them closer to friends and family.

• 34% are anxious about their own health.

• 22% are “inspired by how people are adapting.”

• 15% are lonely, 12% are “angry over restrictions to their freedom.”

Source: An IPSOS Global Tracking poll of 28,000 adults in the U.S., Australia, Brazil, Britain, CANADA, China, France, Germany, INDIA, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Korea and Vietnam. The survey was conducted March 26-30 and released Friday.

• Kindly follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin.