Considering the merit of a proper information diet during the COVID-19 pandemic

By Dennis Archambault

Gov. Whitmer, during her news briefing on April 6, was asked whether the state would begin listing the number of survivors of COVID-19, along with the mortality and infection statistics. Interesting question with significant meaning for those concerned about communication effect.

In 1984, Ben Wattenberg published a book called, The Good News Is the Bad News Is Wrong. It was a seminal moment in understanding the communication effect. Essentially, Wattenberg demonstrated, through an audit of news coverage compared with fact, then matching that to public opinion, that people were drawing the wrong conclusion from exposure to repetitive news coverage. This is important for public health during pandemics like COVID-19 when compliance with public health directives, and perhaps more important, the morale of people to overcome a frightening threat like COVID-19.

When faced with a mysterious, deadly menace, there is a natural hunger to learn more about it, to understand the extent of the threat, how to protect ourselves, and ultimately how to overcome it. It becomes an insatiable desire, bordering on obsession. Just as our appetite for information peaks, the omnipresent news media, fake and reliable, inundates us with information. When you have a viral assault like CORVID-19, for which we know little about and have insufficient resources to respond to, it’s easy to succumb to the futility of the struggle. As Charlie Warzel writes in the New York Times, “We seem to be living in a nightmare scenario. The coronavirus emerged in the middle of the golden age for media manipulation. And it is stealthy, resilient and confounding to experts. It moves far faster than scientists can study it. What seems to be true today may be wrong tomorrow. Uncertainty abounds. And an array of dangerous misinformation, disinformation, and flawed amateur analysis fills the void.”

Back to Gov. Whitmer’s question: What we know of COVID-19 is that the number of infected continues to grow and the number of those dying from it grows. Many of those who die are known to us as celebrities or as family and friends. Only recently are we beginning to read and hear about survivors. When five to 10 percent of the infected are dying, significant numbers of people are surviving. That’s the important message for those of us struggling to cope with the seemingly overwhelming negative statistics.

The good news is the bad news is wrong. It’s not wrong, as statistics. But the impression that comes from reinforcement from multiple information sources over time is that it just keeps getting worse. Another reporter asked the governor if the stay-at-home directive is working in Michigan – and it is – then why aren’t we seeing a change in the numbers of infected and deceased? Of course, the answer is complex.

A major psychological concern is “information anxiety,” a term associated with “the human cost of information overload.” That may come in the form of social paralysis, demoralization, anger, rejection of public authority. The term was coined by author Saul Wurman who wrote a book by the same name. He says that information anxiety is produced “by the ever-widening gap between what we understand and what we think we should understand. It is the black hole between data and knowledge, and what happens when information doesn’t tell us what we want or need to know.”

In Monday’s news briefing, Gov. Whitmer said we would begin to see numbers of survivors late in the week but noted that “discharges are increasing.” That’s an important indicator. People are surviving this disease. The governor was asked how she would respond to people who are concerned that the stay-at-home order isn’t showing immediate impact. It takes time.

We need to remember that while facts need to be compiled and presented – and misinformation vetted – the good news is the bad news is wrong. At least, it’s not entirely right. During a sustained response to an international pandemic, public morale is essential. A diet of good news, coupled with limited exposure to bad news, helps people manage what they understand about this crisis, and most importantly, how they feel about its eventual resolution.

Dennis Archambault is vice president of Public Affairs for Authority Health.