4 ms·

Nothing made me respect mainstream media less than when in 2020 during the COVID pandemic they said they were absolutely 100% totally sure that COVID didn't lea

Nothing made me respect mainstream media less than when in 2020 during the COVID pandemic they said they were absolutely 100% totally sure that COVID didn't leak from a Chinese biolab and that who ever suggested such possibility was a conspiracy theorist who should be banned from social media and the like.

the_gastropod 3y ago
First, what mainstream media outlet did this? Second, recall: 1. There was basically (and as far as I know, still is) no evidence to support this being the case. There was a suspicion at most, and it was basically a conspiracy theory in 2020. 2. This conspiracy theory had a deep root in anti-China / anti-Asian racism. Anti-Asian hate crimes rose 150% in 2020 [1]. So I think it's pretty understandable that mainstream media outlets felt a responsibility to quell interest in conspiracy theories resulting in real-world harm. [1] https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/anti-asian-hate-crimes-increased-nearly-150-2020-mostly-n-n1260264 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/anti-asian-hate-c...
- caseysoftware 3y ago
  > There was basically (and as far as I know, still is) no evidence to support this being the case. If you're not aware of the evidence, it's not from lack of information being publicly available. From almost a year ago: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/28/politics/wray-fbi-covid-origins-lab-china/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/28/politics/wray-fbi-covid-origi... https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-origin-china-lab-leak-807b7b0a https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-origin-china-lab-leak-807... And Fauci, et al actively worked to discredit the lab leak theory in Jan-Mar 2020 when there were some early clues.. therefore casting anyone digging into them as a conspiracy theorist as you just did: https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Final-Report-7.pdf https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Final...

the_gastropod 3y ago

First, what mainstream media outlet did this? Second, recall: 1. There was basically (and as far as I know, still is) no evidence to support this being the case. There was a suspicion at most, and it was basically a conspiracy theory in 2020. 2. This conspiracy theory had a deep root in anti-China / anti-Asian racism. Anti-Asian hate crimes rose 150% in 2020 [1]. So I think it's pretty understandable that mainstream media outlets felt a responsibility to quell interest in conspiracy theories resulting in real-world harm. [1] https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/anti-asian-hate-crimes-increased-nearly-150-2020-mostly-n-n1260264 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/anti-asian-hate-c...

caseysoftware 3y ago
> There was basically (and as far as I know, still is) no evidence to support this being the case. If you're not aware of the evidence, it's not from lack of information being publicly available. From almost a year ago: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/28/politics/wray-fbi-covid-origins-lab-china/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/28/politics/wray-fbi-covid-origi... https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-origin-china-lab-leak-807b7b0a https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-origin-china-lab-leak-807... And Fauci, et al actively worked to discredit the lab leak theory in Jan-Mar 2020 when there were some early clues.. therefore casting anyone digging into them as a conspiracy theorist as you just did: https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Final-Report-7.pdf https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Final...