Media causing panic-buying and costing lives

[Cnut237]

Take a close look at this image from what is normally one of my favourite newpapers, The Guardian. The article is about a supermarket having almost sold out of tinned tomatoes; the image shows a shelf with only a few cans remaining. However they forgot to crop the image. To the left, you can see a huge stock of tins of 'Tesco Chopped Italian Tomatoes'.


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/08/coronavirus-stockpiling-supermarkets-toilet-paper-hand-gel

I'm sure that once coronavirus started to escalate, a few people started panic-buying certain items, probably including tinned food. But newpapers and other media outlets are always desperate to get the latest exclusive, throwing out emotive and misleading headlines like anything. Surely it's the case that the panic buying escalated hugely precisely because of feverish reports of panic-buying.

Press freedom is important, but with that comes responsibility. Newpapers, TV news, etc. are right now abdicating that responsibility. They mislead people all the time, but when there is a serious situation such as now, with a global pandemic, their manipulation of the public is outright criminal. Look at what happened with that quarantine in northern Italy, leaked before it could take effect, leading to people fleeing the area in advance of the lockdown, and no doubt spreading the virus and costing lives as a result.

They are not reporting news, it's just the usual sensationalist crap, but right now it is creating panic and causing suffering and death. These people should be prosecuted.

[aioc]

Here in our country, people prefer to hoard alcohol, hand sanitizer, and a facemask and will resell it to others who want to buy it at triple the price, they are selling it online our trade department has issued warnings against hoarding and reselling and some are caught overpricing, people here are that bad that in this kind of times they are making a business out of it.

[BADecker]

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5112320.msg54029688#msg54029688.

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[Rafael_Carrero]

The media influence has become so powerful today. Sometimes we can't even understand what's really going on.

[Jet Cash]

I wouldn't believe much that I trad in the Guardian, they don't seem to research the propaganda that it pushes.

I suspect the problem is in the distribution network, and not in the availability of products. Tesco tinned tomatoes are probably cheap imports that bypass the routes that are being throttled by some government agencies. That is typical distorted reporting that seems common in the Guardian pages.

[Mttewndew]

The worthless printing press, as always, shows its incompetence. They are ready for anything for a couple of hate clicks. I think it’s time to admit that such publications no longer deserve attention and trust.

[TECSHARE]

"Price Gouging During Disasters Is Actually a Good Thing"

https://fee.org/articles/price-gouging-during-disasters-is-actually-a-good-thing

[SoryuMaiden]

Take a close look at this image from what is normally one of my favourite newpapers, The Guardian. The article is about a supermarket having almost sold out of tinned tomatoes; the image shows a shelf with only a few cans remaining. However they forgot to crop the image. To the left, you can see a huge stock of tins of 'Tesco Chopped Italian Tomatoes'.


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/08/coronavirus-stockpiling-supermarkets-toilet-paper-hand-gel

I'm sure that once coronavirus started to escalate, a few people started panic-buying certain items, probably including tinned food. But newpapers and other media outlets are always desperate to get the latest exclusive, throwing out emotive and misleading headlines like anything. Surely it's the case that the panic buying escalated hugely precisely because of feverish reports of panic-buying.

Press freedom is important, but with that comes responsibility. Newpapers, TV news, etc. are right now abdicating that responsibility. They mislead people all the time, but when there is a serious situation such as now, with a global pandemic, their manipulation of the public is outright criminal. Look at what happened with that quarantine in northern Italy, leaked before it could take effect, leading to people fleeing the area in advance of the lockdown, and no doubt spreading the virus and costing lives as a result.

They are not reporting news, it's just the usual sensationalist crap, but right now it is creating panic and causing suffering and death. These people should be prosecuted.

I've never been a fan of the media. They overuse figurative language in their reporting that end up to misinformation.

Let's take the Coronavirus pandemic as an example. The media focus on the negative side of the situation: death tolls, negative effects of the virus to our health, economy being paralyzed by this problem, etc. But we seldom see reports about the following: people who recovered from the COVID-19, the development of cure for this virus, the right things to do on sanitary and cleanliness, the so-called "community immunity", and other positive things.

Talking about community immunity, the media could have been an effective instrument of disseminating this. If only people were educated about the community immunity, the situation on markets and stores of basic necessities could have been better than what it is now.

[Hulhala15]

Never trust the media, it is full of lies especially local magazines. They want their magazines to be sold and they will do anything to get it over with. They know that the corona virus is causing a worlwide panick and people want to be informed. Since they do not have more things to tell about corona virus apart from its spread and the cases reported, they dive in to other stuff to spread the word. If  you go to the web, corona virus is everywhere.Every source claims to know better than the other. If you want actual news about the coronavirus then you can relly on CNN, Aljazeera or BBC. These are the only sources that really know what is going on around the world.

[franky1]

"Price Gouging During Disasters Is Actually a Good Thing"

https://fee.org/articles/price-gouging-during-disasters-is-actually-a-good-thing

many flaws in that articles thinking. sounds like making excuses to be lazy but greedy

ill give one example
in a disaster people need water
the articl implies retailers stop buying extra water becuase they wont profit from the extra demand..
such a lie
heres some math

imagine a large 1 gallon of bottled water was $5 and wholesale was $1.50 (3.50 profit)
usually guy sales 100 gallons a week.($350)
during a disaster demand doubles
does he only order 50 (costing $2 wholesale as less cost spread) and raise the price to $10 =$400 profit for week
or does he order 200 (costing $1.25 wholesale as more cost spread) sell for same $5 = $750 profit for week

as you can see. halving supply but doubling price does not always play as well as just doubling supply
is it really worth the hassle of an extra $50 to pee off every customer with high prices and running out of stock sooner

OR
keeping customers happy and well supplied and loyal customers for next time. meaning more profit in following weeks due to more repeat customers

..
articles that are promoting gouging as good. are greedy people that just want to get rich without caring about customers without thinking about long term and just thinking of short sharp quick profit without thinking of the consequences

[Adriane14]

Always find a reliable source not because it was a big media, sometimes big means big lies so you should trust something which is reliable and small.

[franky1]

Always find a reliable source not because it was a big media, sometimes big means big lies so you should trust something which is reliable and small.

or even better. read. then think. then think. then check . then think. then decide to rely on it or not

too many people read an article once and if it looks good immediately trust it. and then become loyal to the media source even if other articles are not so factual.
like most of the covid scams.. they start with sensible tips about distancing, isolating and washing hands to curb the spread. then they try advertising some herbal cure


..
as for the title of this topic
the whole need for toilet roll stemed from social media of old videos of people fighting over baskets of toilet rol which then made people think toilet roll was something that was needed but some secret thing that hasnt been mentioned on broad media yet.

then when saying a lockdown for weeks was going to happen. ofcourse people were gonna stock up for a fortnight/month+
it wasnt like there was no isolation where nothing was going to change but broad media still said people should stock up.

it was that there would be something that can affect peoples ability to do things. and the people decided to hoard

[squatz1]

"Price Gouging During Disasters Is Actually a Good Thing"

https://fee.org/articles/price-gouging-during-disasters-is-actually-a-good-thing

I've actually read this sort of thing. Though it isn't going to be popular with everyday Americans and voters because they don't see the upside of something like this. All they think about is themselves paying more for products that they truly need -- like food, water, etc in the event of an emergency. They forget that certain goods -- like generators -- aren't going to get to them if they're not willing to pay more then the regular price. Entrepreneurs are going to get you these products if you need them and are willing to pay for their services, they're not going to do it for nothing.

Not sure how exactly you do this while also ensuring that people get necessity items -- food, water, etc.

[BADecker]

Here in our country, people prefer to hoard alcohol, hand sanitizer...

Hand sanitizer for when the alcohol runs out?     

[Naida_BR]

I have a friend that works in a supermarket and people are so much panicked.
It is true that they strive to buy toilet paper tinned tomatoes, pasta and products with a long period of life.
Still, they don't win anything. They still go again and again to the supermarket to buy things and they are not staying at home.

[BADecker]

^^^ And it is all based on fake news. Watch the videos linked here - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5239900.msg54219946#msg54219946.

[Jack_uk]

A lot of the media promote sensationalist garbage and I totally agree with you. The Guardian really is no different to the other big media outlets in the UK that are already well known in promoting distasteful media. Overall, the media have a lot to answer for.