# The media frenzy over Ebola is just a distraction from the election **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 21, 2014, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-media-frenzy-over-ebola-is-just-a-distraction-from-the-election/702079 "2014-10-21T22:19:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-media-frenzy-over-ebola-is-just-a-distraction-from-the-election/702079/1 "2014-10-21T22:19:06Z")
Over the entire course of this outbreak, 4800 people have died. Cigarettes alone kill 1300 Americans every day. It’s awfully convenient that the upcoming election has had almost no press because OMG THERE’S EBOLA IN THE USA WE’RE ALL SCREWED. I bet congressmen don’t want people to realize that they have the ability to vote them out of office, so they got the media to go crazy over a very small outbreak. Again, you are thousands of times more likely to die in a car accident or be shot then get ebola. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-media-frenzy-over-ebola-is-just-a-distraction-from-the-election/702079/2 "2014-10-21T22:59:20Z")
People have been running for this election for the last couple years; people know all the issues they care about and are bored with it. [In contrast in other western democracies elections last a much shorter period of time.] ---
**Author:** ![halfreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@halfreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/halfreal)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-media-frenzy-over-ebola-is-just-a-distraction-from-the-election/702079/3 "2014-10-21T23:15:02Z")
I don’t think there’s any necessity for congressmen to manipulate the media on this. Great Scares are gold in the media business. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-media-frenzy-over-ebola-is-just-a-distraction-from-the-election/702079/4 "2014-10-21T23:22:59Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > I bet congressmen don’t want people to realize that they have the ability to vote them out of office, so they got the media to go crazy over a very small outbreak. Just curious, what are your thoughts on chemtrails? ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2014, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-media-frenzy-over-ebola-is-just-a-distraction-from-the-election/702079/5 "2014-10-21T23:55:02Z")
It might be a distraction for more important matters, but it’s not a US manufactured distraction. It’s pretty much worldwide. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-media-frenzy-over-ebola-is-just-a-distraction-from-the-election/702079/6 "2014-10-22T03:04:01Z")
I don’t think congress could manipulate the media unless it was in the media’s best interest to follow suit. The media gravitates towards what sells newspapers, increases viewers, or sells magazine. Ebola works for the media right now. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-media-frenzy-over-ebola-is-just-a-distraction-from-the-election/702079/7 "2014-10-22T03:19:36Z")
I dunno, from my seat the Nov election is a distraction from every god damn thing else going on in the world. If I feel the need to dig into the platform of officials I can indeed elect, I know where to find it. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-media-frenzy-over-ebola-is-just-a-distraction-from-the-election/702079/8 "2014-10-22T05:07:54Z")
Also, we seem to get this all the time on the Dope: Why are we making such a big deal about these people dying of X, when more people die of Y every day? The answer is because a simple headcount of incidence is just one factor of what makes a situation newsworthy. Other critical factors include whether the situation is changing, and to what extent the situation is new / novel. Otherwise all the news media would have the same headlines every day for at least the last 30 years. That’s not to excuse the level of frenzy, in the US media in particular, over ebola. ---
**Author:** ![babygoat666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2acd7d/32.png) [@babygoat666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/babygoat666)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-media-frenzy-over-ebola-is-just-a-distraction-from-the-election/702079/9 "2014-10-22T05:33:25Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > Over the entire course of this outbreak, 4800 people have died. Cigarettes alone kill 1300 Americans every day. It’s awfully convenient that the upcoming election has had almost no press because OMG THERE’S EBOLA IN THE USA WE’RE ALL SCREWED. I bet congressmen don’t want people to realize that they have the ability to vote them out of office, so they got the media to go crazy over a very small outbreak. Again, you are thousands of times more likely to die in a car accident or be shot then get ebola. Cigarettes aren’t contagious, and the rest of your premise is ridiculous. The only people that care about who is in office vote in every election. They all like their own guy, and it’s yours who sucks. ---
**Author:** ![JoannaDee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@JoannaDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoannaDee)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-media-frenzy-over-ebola-is-just-a-distraction-from-the-election/702079/10 "2014-10-22T05:39:19Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > Over the entire course of this outbreak, 4800 people have died. Cigarettes alone kill 1300 Americans every day. It’s awfully convenient that the upcoming election has had almost no press because OMG THERE’S EBOLA IN THE USA WE’RE ALL SCREWED. I bet congressmen don’t want people to realize that they have the ability to vote them out of office, so they got the media to go crazy over a very small outbreak. Again, you are thousands of times more likely to die in a car accident or be shot then get ebola. Releases and scrums coming from government sources may have that in mind, but not the media as a whole. The problem with the media is all they care about is ratings, and ebola equals terrifying people equals ratings. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-media-frenzy-over-ebola-is-just-a-distraction-from-the-election/702079/11 "2014-10-22T05:42:54Z")
> [@babygoat666](#): > > Cigarettes aren’t contagious, and the rest of your premise is ridiculous. The only people that care about who is in office vote in every election. They all like their own guy, and it’s yours who sucks. Yep. People say, “Throw the bums out,” but they tend to re-elect the same guys over and over again. And dirty advertising works. It changes the course of elections. We all hate smear campaigns, dirty tricks, and mud-slinging…but we are swayed by it. It’s our own damn fault. As Bertolt Brecht said, “Would it not be easier for the government to disband the people and institute another in its place?” We, the people, really are the ultimate source of all our problems, and to say, “It’s the government’s fault” is absurd. The media frenzy is to sell advertising minutes. If stupid spam ads in our email inboxes trying to sell us Vi\*gra didn’t actually work, they’d go away and we’d be that much happier. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-media-frenzy-over-ebola-is-just-a-distraction-from-the-election/702079/12 "2014-10-22T11:24:11Z")
Right. This makes total sense, because as we all know from countless previous examples, midterm elections in the USA are normally a hotbed of excitement and activism, and always end up being the cause of major social change. Usually, us Americans just can’t stop talking and thinking about midterm elections, figuring out the best way to kick the bastards out and replace them with more socially responsible alternatives. Any Congressman facing the gauntlet of the dreaded midterm election is quivering in fear for his political life, and it obviously makes sense to simply engineer a deadly (but not particularly contagious) virus that happens to look just like a real virus that’s been known for decades, and release it among two, maybe three people to cause a reign of terror that will finally, at last, distract the laser-like focus of the American people on the power and majesty of the Midterm Election. I totally get it. ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-media-frenzy-over-ebola-is-just-a-distraction-from-the-election/702079/13 "2014-10-22T12:53:56Z")
I thought Obama manufactured Ebola to distract us from ISIS? No wait, I mean Syria. No, Ferguson. Definitely Ferguson. Maybe. I just know Ebola lets me blame the people I want for being evil. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-media-frenzy-over-ebola-is-just-a-distraction-from-the-election/702079/14 "2014-10-22T13:24:21Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > we seem to get this all the time on the Dope: Why are we making such a big deal about these people dying of X, when more people die of Y every day? Yes - the (rather strange) presumption seems to be that only the thing that causes the most deaths should be newsworthy. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-media-frenzy-over-ebola-is-just-a-distraction-from-the-election/702079/15 "2014-10-22T13:57:49Z")
> [@Gedd](#): > > I thought Obama manufactured Ebola to distract us from ISIS? No wait, I mean Syria. No, Ferguson. Definitely Ferguson. Maybe. > > I just know Ebola lets me blame the people I want for being evil. Don’t be ridiculous. It was Benghazi. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a8b319/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-media-frenzy-over-ebola-is-just-a-distraction-from-the-election/702079/16 "2014-10-22T14:11:01Z")
> [@babygoat666](#): > > Cigarettes aren’t contagious, and the rest of your premise is ridiculous. The only people that care about who is in office vote in every election. They all like their own guy, and it’s yours who sucks. Plus, cigarettes generally kill older people. This is what happens as we get old, we become susceptible to illness, disease and death. No matter how old or how healthy they are Ebola seems to claim anyone as its victim. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-media-frenzy-over-ebola-is-just-a-distraction-from-the-election/702079/17 "2014-10-22T15:09:50Z")
I think the Ebola frenzy is a distraction from the NFL violence scandals. Think about it: Rice hit his fiancee in February, the outbreak began in March. The additional video was released in early September, and the first domestic US Ebola case was announced just a week later. Connect the dots, sheeple! ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-media-frenzy-over-ebola-is-just-a-distraction-from-the-election/702079/18 "2014-10-22T15:21:55Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Connect the dots, sheeple! Just don’t say it three times!! ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-media-frenzy-over-ebola-is-just-a-distraction-from-the-election/702079/19 "2014-10-22T16:51:30Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > . . . I bet congressmen don’t want people to realize that they have the ability to vote them out of office, so they got the media to go crazy over a very small outbreak. . . . > [@Gedd](#): > > I thought Obama manufactured Ebola to distract us from ISIS? No wait, I mean Syria. No, Ferguson. Definitely Ferguson. Maybe. . . . Check online and you can find dozens of things that the ebola scare is taking attention away from and “isn’t that convenient.” The one I remember off hand is it’s distracting from CDC whistle-blowergate (if you don’t know, you’re better off). Most “isn’t that convenient” folks don’t stop with the scare. They claim that the disease was deliberately spread in order to start the scare. > [@](#): > > . . . some people in industry, the government, and the World Health Organization did not want the Ebola outbreak to be confined to several nations in Africa because that would fail to create a lucrative global market for mandated use of fast tracked Ebola vaccines by every one of the seven billion human beings living on this planet. > [@Ravenman](#): > > I think the Ebola frenzy is a distraction from the NFL violence scandals. > > Think about it: Rice hit his fiancee in February, the outbreak began in March. The additional video was released in early September, and the first domestic US Ebola case was announced just a week later. Connect the dots, sheeple! Oh, I like that one. That one’s good. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-media-frenzy-over-ebola-is-just-a-distraction-from-the-election/702079/20 "2014-10-22T17:00:35Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > Over the entire course of this outbreak, 4800 people have died. Cigarettes alone kill 1300 Americans every day. I think I see your point. People with Ebola should vape, right? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-media-frenzy-over-ebola-is-just-a-distraction-from-the-election/702079.md?page=2)