Ebola hysteria: A reflection of American overreaction on other matters too

The American mainstream news media might be extremely partisan when it comes to news and opinion, but one thing is certain when they report on any threat: things are blown out of proportion for the ‘benefit’ of the American public.

Whether it is a matter of ‘national security’ (Iranian nuclear weapons, ISIS on US soil, Russian menace, China rising, etc.), or the recent spread of Ebola virus in some African countries (FYI to American readers: Ebola is not affecting the entire African continent), the American mainstream news media has a particular way of branding a threat that is always presented as a worst-case scenario.

As of October 21, there are eight confirmed cases of Ebola in US soil. However, the proportion of the hysteria it has generated has become out of hand: the isolation of a woman in a Pentagon parking lot; an ill airplane passenger locked in the lavatory due to Ebola-related precaution; an elementary school teacher forced to have a 21-day leave because she stayed in a hotel that is 10 miles away from a hospital that had a confirmed case of Ebola; a principal who went to Zambia (a country with zero Ebola cases) and was told to have a paid vacation leave because she went to Africa; and many more.

Indeed, such hysterical instances are beyond what a Pentagon spokesperson euphemistically described as “out of an abundance of caution.” In actuality, the American mainstream news media is so used to stoking false fears which is already engrained in how they present news and over exaggerated reports.

So the next time you read about Ebola’s mass-extinction threat to Americans, be aware that the same tactics of lying and overreaction have been played out over and over again in the past, just like what went during the terrorist plots, over budget, and less than appealing conditions bashed against the Sochi Olympics in Russia early this year, the Syrian chemical weapons blamed on Al Assad, false reports about ISIS recruits in Mexico who are ‘about to cross the border into the US’, the WMD scare in Iraq, and others.