Bad Press: How the media manufactures consent in the age of COVID

Most people get a lot of what they know about public health from what’s in the news. But what’s in the news—and the way it’s talked about—is not always clear or accurate.

This episode tracks how the media has contributed to the alarming decline of public health and played a role in blocking meaningful understanding and action on COVID. What is reported and how it's framed can have a huge impact on what people think and how they behave. And if public health leaders are the ones sending foggy messages through unquestioning journalists, it becomes difficult to address collective health threats—now and in the future. The interplay between public health institutions, politicians, and the media is so powerful it affects who suffers, who survives, and who doesn’t. And with the certainty of future pandemics coming along, honest and clear news media that serves the public can be a lifeline. It’s long past time to change the COVID narrative.

We talk to journalist, Julia Doubleday of The Gauntlet and researcher/science communicator, Kayli Jamieson about media narratives, propaganda, and why it's become so hard to get good COVID coverage as the pandemic smoulders on. This episode also features Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, former Technical Lead for COVID-19 at the World Health Organization.

Note: When this episode discusses communications about COVID vaccines and effectiveness, it refers to mRNA vaccines against COVID generally. Presently, other vaccines like Novavax, which may perform better in some measures, are unavailable in Canada.

Find Julia at thegauntlet.news and Kayli on Instagram @wandering

We had some audio recording and technical issues with this episode but pulled through thanks to the painstaking work of our amazing mixer/sound designer/musician, Alexandria Maillot. The transcript is available on the ​episode webpage​.

CREDITS
Huge thanks to the Skeleton Crew for all their work on this episode:
Hosted, produced, written, edited by Daniella Barreto
Music, Mixing, and Sound Design by Alexandria Maillot
Script editing by Lauren M. and Kevin Ball
Fact checking by Anika Sharma and Roanne G.

Additional music by Alex Productions, sound byte "Freaky Halloween"

RESOURCES
Some articles by Julia Doubleday:

• "How the press manufactured consent for never-ending COVID reinfections"
• "Institutional COVID denial has killed public health as we knew it. Prepare to lose several centuries of progress."
• "Liberals joined conservatives to mainstream anti-vax beliefs about viruses and public health"

This episode is in memory of Leslie Lee III and Alice Wong — fierce public health and disability justice advocates. Leslie was living with Long COVID. They both encouraged me to keep making this podcast. May we all keep working towards the world they were fighting for. - DB

This is an independent, listener-supported show. If you like what you hear, and you'd like to support production costs for more of Public Health is Dead, visit publichealthisdead.com!