Coronavirus: Why is every left-wing commentator suddenly a COVID-19 doomsayer?

Apocalyptic predictions only damage the credibility of those who make them, particularly when they’re from the usual media suspects who still can’t accept the federal election outcome, writes Mike O’Connor.

If ever there was a time for the journalistic community of opinionated prophets to pull in its collective head, it’s now.

As I’ve sat at home in self-isolation for the past 12 days, I’ve watched in dismay as people who know as much about infectious diseases as I do, which is absolutely nothing, have offered critiques of the state and federal governments’ handling of the virus crisis.

I caught measles as a kid. That’s the extent of my experience with infectious diseases but compared with the qualifications of some commentators propounding their views, that makes me an expert.

Suddenly, everyone has the answers with some media commentators seemingly determined to fan the flames of public fear and uncertainty.

Last week I watched a television presenter all but beg a government medical spokesman to declare that children were at special risk and that parents should be prepared for a dreadful death toll.

The spokesman kept assuring her that was not the case but she continued the line of questioning, desperate to terrify parents with a sensational and completely false exclusive.

The ABC, predictably, has been foremost in doomsday reporting.

“We can’t be certain for at least another fortnight whether tighter restrictions are needed. By then, of course, it could be too late, writes David Speers,” it reported a few days ago.

All the evidence shows it’s not too late but why take a positive stance when a negative one is that much more sensational?

The ABC’s Dr Norman Swan has been a critic of the federal government’s response. Dr Swan boasts of being Australia’s first medically trained journalist.

The ABC’s Dr Norman Swan has criticised the government’s response. Picture: Supplied

This may be so but he’s a paediatrician. Paediatricians specialise in children’s diseases. He has no special expertise in infectious diseases or virology.

It seems to me that elevating a paediatrician to the status of a pandemic expert is akin to asking a carpenter to repair your car.

Political commentators who so famously failed to do what they are paid to do – accurately report politics – when they completely misread the political moods in the United States and here prior to their respective federal elections, are now predicting how the current crisis will unfold and telling us where the government is going wrong.

Does anyone out there honestly believe that Scott Morrison and his cabinet are not working 20 hours a day to deliver the best possible outcome for the country? At times like this, you have to place your trust in the democratically elected leaders of the country, whether you like their politics or not.

Can the opinionated prophets please shut up? Picture: iStock

Apocalyptic predictions don’t help anyone and only damage the credibility of those who make them, particularly when they come from the usual media suspects who remain in denial of the federal election outcome.

On the subject of elections, my wife and I tried for three days last week to cast a vote by phone in last Saturday’s local government elections without success. Every time we called, and we called a lot, we were greeted by a recorded “we’re busy” message and then disconnection.

It’s is an untruth for the Electoral Commission of Queensland to suggest that phone voting was an option. It wasn’t. It failed in its duty to provide this option. We were disenfranchised and we cannot have been the only ones.

The election was a farce and you cannot but help wonder at the motive behind Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s bloody-minded determination to hold it.

Mike O’Connor is a columnist for The Courier-Mail