On The Media #2

What is the Zika virus and should we be worried?

Once again, this assignment is showing how much I really don't watch the news or keep up with a lot of current events because I have not heard a single thing about this virus or the word Zika for that matter. Usually 'On The Media' has various stories on their weekly show, however clearly this topic is very important because it is the single topic covered in this weeks show. This virus covers a lot of areas of interest and rather than zone in on just one of the 5-7 minute excerpts, I chose to look at all of them to get a good grasp of this virus and what is being done about it.

I first wanted to explore "the Zika poster child" because I believe it taps into both a psychological and social context. In the interview with Patricia Mello, who is a writer for the major newspaper in Brazil; she discusses how the country didn't really react to this virus or do much about it until it started to affect newborns. The same trend followed with the general public,  through not necessarily losing sleep over this virus until they started seeing these photos of the affected infants. Why do we do this with media? Why do we not care about something until it hits a little part in our heart, much like the viral photo of the deceased boy on the beach? I think that it's become this way partly because of social trends. Print media no longer reaches the mass public and therefore doesn't get much thought. A photo however gets liked, shared, posted, blogged and spreads like wildfire. A photo metaphorically is worth a thousand words and each person relates to it differently. The photo of this child affected by the Zika Virus is a social aspect because it turned this virus from a public problem to a community problem.

The other reason we react to photos like this and consequently decide to finally take action is also a psychological one. One of the most effective ways to persuade someone is through pathos (or emotion). Simply telling someone, "hey there is a very harmful Zika virus going around, we really should take action to combat this" isn't as effective as showing a picture or video of a woman holding her infected baby and crying. Our brains like connections and concepts to build relationships of things that we can use when certain stimuli presents itself. So when we see a photo or video (especially of children) trying to promote something, chances are we will listen and act. We do this because we can relate to that, whether it's on a human basis, a parent basis, love basis ect.

I also listened to the podcast of Brooke Gladstone interviewing Jonathan Katz, a reporter who caught the Zika virus, however not the associated panic. I laughed a few times while listening to this because he was so blunt and realistic about it all. I like that he wasn't trying to say that this Virus isn't something that needs to be addressed but he thinks it doesn't do any good for the media to just scare people. This is a major cultural issue especially in the United States. The media always seems to exasperate issues and people get concerned and worked up over something they know very little about. I like that Ebola was also brought up and the few "moments of fame" it got and now this Zika virus is breaking news. I agree with Jonathan in that we don't need to panic about the Zika virus, we need to educate ourselves on what it is and take the necessary steps to prevent it.

I think this is a hard issue to have a "stand" on because it's not like I can really choose to support or believe in the virus ha ha. It really helped tuning into this weeks show and educating myself on what this virus is and how it may or may not affect me. I really think there is a problem with people listening to the news or following social media on a matter and taking it face value. It's easy for people to say "oh this is global crisis! I am never leaving my house again!" On the other side it is easy to claim that it's not an issue, it doesn't affect me. I myself, found myself saying, "well just kill off all the mosquitos, problem solved!" According to the interview with Nikos Vasilakis, it isn't that easy. I think the biggest concern now is the virus slowly making its way to the United States and of course the devastating effects it is having on infants. I believe these are very valid concerns and ones that definitely need to be addressed. As far as how, I honestly don't have an answer.