Member-only story
There Are No Right Answers
My job as a journalist is to communicate accurate information. The problem is, the information on the coronavirus keeps changing.
Covering the novel coronavirus pandemic has been the greatest challenge in my career as a health reporter. Part of it is the long hours, the universal feeling of anxiety, and the pressure to churn out story after story. But the far greater concern is getting the information right and not contributing to the confusion and misinformation around the virus. It is my job to communicate accurate information to people that can help keep them safe, and that need is more pressing now than ever. The problem is, the right answers keep changing.
As a former scientist, I trust expertise, data, and the scientific method. I trained as an experimental psychologist studying the brain, not as a virologist, emergency medicine physician, or an epidemiologist, so I defer to those who are able to answer questions about the virus: How it affects the human body, how we might treat it, and how it will spread. But the problem is, this virus is so new most of the experts don’t know those things either.
“I don’t know.”
“We’re not sure yet.”
