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In mid-November, a nurse went viral On Here with the claim that she had patients who, even as they were dying, refused to believe the coronavirus was real.
Her tweets led to a round of news stories, and interviews on major networks and outlets.
But. 1/
Her tweets led to a round of news stories, and interviews on major networks and outlets.
But. 1/
As the story was spreading, few people reporting on it went beyond what she said she was seeing. In the span of time that a story goes viral, it IS deeply frustrating that so many sites lift without being skeptical.
Wired pointed this out a few days later.
Wired pointed this out a few days later.
Wired also tried to stand up the nurse's claims. The writer was unable to, though he also pointed out that didn't mean they weren't NOT true, either.
Obviously, you could send a reporter there to spend days on the ground talking to people to actually find something like the truth. But that takes time. And even with infinite staffing and resources you can't do that for every story that catches the internet's fancy.
So we live in this imperfect world and its imperfect media ecosystem, and more often than not, that means so many things just go unexplored.
But.
But here we are a month later. The Washington Post today has an absolutely jaw-droppingly good piece from a town not far away from where the nurse worked.
It's a big, deeply reported piece that takes time to report. It's not actually about the viral nurse it all. It's just about this conservative town in South Dakota that resisted masks and the tragedy they're facing right now because of that. Read it: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/12/09/south-dakota-mitchell-covid-masks/?arc404=true
Anyway, like I said, this town isn't very far from where the other nurse worked. Not far from the places the Wired reporter called in an effort to stand up the claims.
And buried deep within this incredible moving article, which is about so many things other than the viral headline, look what they found
Anyway, the impulse to share things that support our views is human, and imperfect. I get it.
Lots of sites who should know better didn't bother with their due diligence on this one. I get Wired being cranky about it.
Lots of sites who should know better didn't bother with their due diligence on this one. I get Wired being cranky about it.
But man, this story, quite outside of this little detour, it's a gut-punch it's why you shouldn't lose faith in journalism at its best. And why you should demand more of it. And pay for it. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/12/09/south-dakota-mitchell-covid-masks/?arc404=true
But man, this story today,
