It's nice to read a well-thought-out piece that both critiques and enlightens. That said, I do think it bears some mention that a substantial amount of the ear

It's nice to read a well-thought-out piece that both critiques and enlightens. That said, I do think it bears some mention that a substantial amount of the early Coronavirus discussion was being poisoned by people who were not arguing in good faith. That sucked a fair amount of the oxygen out of the debate, and I suspect may have left journalists in less of a position to provide thoughtful context around expert opinions. In other words, flat earthers occupying enough print and mindshare to make it hard to focus on the subtleties of Keplerian motion.