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不安をあおる報道は遮断せよ
最近、鳥インフルエンザや SARS 感染について不安をあおるような報道が多いが…。
New ways to die
The other day over dinner, a TV news story reported that eggs and meat from chickens with avian flu had been resold to restaurants and other businesses. The announcers read the story in a grave tone, suggesting a crisis had struck Japan's food supply. The story's impact on my mother-in-law was quick: "That's scary," she mumbled between bites of food. The fearmongers had done their work.
For the past several months, we've been bombarded with scary news stories about new ways to get sick and die. There's SARS and mad cow disease (or BSE) and now avian flu. Our entire food supply is in jeopardy, they tell us. The media reports their spread and the subsequent scramble by authorities to try to contain the crisis. But among all this, what frequently doesn't get reported, or not enough anyway, is a level-headed analysis of the actual risk.
After my mother-in-law's comment, I quickly reassured her: "The avian flu virus is easily killed if you cook the meat or eggs. In fact, there hasn't been a single case of avian flu spread to humans through eating infected chickens." But for some reason, these facts were missing from the TV report.
Likewise, Japan was quick to ban all imports of beef from the United States when a single cow was found to have BSE there - to squeals of delight from domestic cattle producers - but reports about BSE almost never point out that you cannot get sick by eating regular meat portions of sick cows. It's parts of their nervous systems that present a problem.
And reports from Taiwan about a sole researcher there getting a new case of SARS topped the news that day, but also failed to mention that there's never been a single case in Japan, let alone the fact that more people die from "regular" pneumonia and influenza every day than have died from the entire SARS outbreak globally.
Don't get me wrong: These new diseases do, of course, present a risk (especially to animal handlers and health professionals), but that risk is insignificant when compared to all the old, traditional risks we face daily.
Unfortunately, "news," as the roots of the word imply, needs to be something "new." Old-type stories, like "routine" deaths from car accidents, cancer, strokes and heart disease don't get much air time, even though the vast majority of all deaths are from one of these causes.
So the next time you find yourself getting disturbed or uptight over news reports about the latest rare disease, terrorism, or some horrible unsolved murder somewhere, just turn off the TV, put down your newspaper, or close that Web browser.
Try a self-imposed "news blackout" for a day or so and give yourself a break from the fearmongers. You may find it does wonders for your state of mind.
And while you're relaxing, keep the following in mind: If you live in Japan, watch your weight and blood pressure, and drive safely with your seat belt on, congratulations! You're living one of the lowest-risk lifestyles on the entire planet.
Now pass the chicken, please.
Shukan ST: March 19, 2004
(C) All rights reserved
- avian flu
- 〜鳥インフルエンザ
- had been resold to 〜
- 〜に転売されていた
- grave tone
- 深刻な口調
- crisis had struck 〜
- 〜が危機に見舞われた
- food supply
- 食糧供給
- mother-in-law
- 義理の母
- mumbled
- つぶやいた
- fearmongers
- 恐怖をあおる人
- had done their work
- ひと仕事やってのけた
- (have)been bombarded with 〜
- 〜の攻勢にさらされてきた
- SARS
- 重症急性呼吸器症候群
- mad cow disease(or BSE)
- 狂牛病
- in jeopardy
- 危機に瀕して
- spread
- 広がり
- subsequent scramble
- それに続く緊急の処置
- authorities
- 当局
- contain
- 阻止する
- level-headed analysis
- 冷静な分析
- infected
- 感染した
- ban
- 禁止する
- squeals of delight
- 喜びの叫び
- domestic cattle producers
- 国内の畜産業者
- regular meat portions
- 普通の肉の部位
- nervous systems
- 神経システム
- sole
- ただ一人の
- topped the news
- トップニュースになった
- failed to mention
- 触れなかった
- let alone 〜
- 〜は言うに及ばず
- pneumonia
- 肺炎
- entire 〜 outbreak globally
- 地球上のすべての〜の発生
- Don't get me wrong
- 誤解しないでほしい
- handlers
- 扱う人
- insignificant
- 取るに足らない
- routine
- ありきたりの
- cancer
- がん
- strokes
- 脳卒中
- heart disease
- 心臓病
- don't get much air time
- あまり多くは報道されない
- find yourself getting disturbed or uptight
- 不安になったり神経質になったりする
- unsolved murder
- 未解決の殺人事件
- turn off
- スイッチを切る
- Web browser
- インターネットのブラウザ
- self-imposed
- 自主的な
- news blackout
- 情報遮断
- give yourself a break from 〜
- 〜を遮断して一息つく
- state of mind
- 精神状態
- keep the following in mind
- 次のことを心に留めておこう
- weight and blood pressure
- 体重と血圧
- pass 〜 please
- 〜を取ってください