It’s Time to Cancel KUSI-TV - They’re a Danger to the Public
You want some “cancel culture?” I’ve got some for you.
It’s one thing to have a point of view. It’s another to endanger people's lives.
As County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher said yesterday on Twitter in response to a “news” story distorting a public health official’s comments to suggest COVID-19 vaccines aren’t effective:
Probability of getting COVID post vaccine: 0.03%
Probability of getting disinformation from KUSI: 100%
More than 3700 people in San Diego County have died due to COVID 19. KUSI-TV has served as a beacon of misinformation on the pandemic. Although case numbers are declining locally, they persist in presenting news broadcasts containing distortions and/or misrepresentations.
KUSI’s news programming has always been slanted toward the conservative end of the political spectrum. Now it’s just ridiculous.
By providing continuous access to experts with dubious credentials and obvious agendas, they’re signaling to conservatives that refusing the vaccine is a way to demonstrate tribal loyalty and, even more importantly, demonstrate contempt for liberals.
The right wing game plan, in case you haven’t already figured it out, is to manipulate statistics to foment distrust in government and accentuate anxiety in response to public health measures.
From yesterday:
San Diego County Health officials and various elected leaders are continuing to push the vaccines on the public.
During Wednesday’s San Diego County Health Briefing, KUSI News submitted a basic question, we asked if vaccinate [sic] people are safe from those who have not been vaccinated?
Instead of confirming vaccinated people are safe, Dr. Seema Shah from Rady Children’s Hospital, casted doubt on their effectiveness explaining that post vaccination infections are an expected result.
You can say this coverage is “framing” as Union-Tribune editor Matt Hall does, or you can look at the totality of KUSI’s coverage and conclude they’re violating the FCC statement that "rigging or slanting the news is a most heinous act against the public interest."
https://twitter.com/SDuncovered/status/1400271505225707523?s=20
The 20% of the American adult population who say they do not plan to get vaccinated, translates to 41% of all Republicans, and it’s safe to say they represent a majority of KUSI’s viewers. FYI-- The risk for unvaccinated people is currently about the same as it was for the general population in the middle of the January surge.
Rather than share that information with their viewers, KUSI gave a neuroradiologist and senior fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution, Dr. Scott Atlas, airtime to “remind” viewers of the “harm” California’s public health safety measures.
https://twitter.com/KUSINews/status/1400620783899004934?s=20
Steven Harper, writing at Bill Moyers website, called Atlas “America’s Dangerous Doctor.” The guy’s a right wing crank, with no expertise in infectious diseases, epidemiology or public health. But he did say things Donad Trump wanted to hear in appearances on Fox News. That’s how he became a leading voice on the White House Coronavirus Task Force.
Via CNN:
In one extraordinary episode in October, Twitter removed a tweet from Atlas that sought to undermine the importance of face masks because it was in violation of the platform's Covid-19 Misleading Information Policy, according to a spokesman for the company.
And earlier this month, he criticized coronavirus restrictions in Michigan, urging residents in the state to "rise up" against the measures. The comments came weeks after officials thwarted an alleged domestic terrorism kidnapping plot against Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who herself has been the subject of harsh criticism from the President and other Republicans amid the pandemic.
Following those remarks, Stanford University distanced itself from Atlas. A group of faculty members at the university celebrated his resignation from the Trump administration on Monday, saying in a statement that it's "long overdue and underscores the triumph of science and truth over falsehoods and misinformation."
"His actions have undermined and threatened public health even as countless lives have been lost to Covid-19," the faculty wrote.
Then there’s the “California’s doomed message” part of Dr. Atlas’ KUSI interview, easily refuted by a UCLA study reported in the Los Angeles Times:
Despite conflicting political narratives over the impact of business closures, mask mandates and social distancing rules, states with stringent interventions such as California generally have had a more robust economic recovery than states with looser rules, according to Nickelsburg’s analysis.
California had less of a contraction last year than Texas, Florida and Indiana, states with fewer restrictions, data show. Overall, economic output shrank 3.5% on average for the U.S., compared with 2.8% for California.
You have give Atlas credit for the way he dances around the question of spiking suicide rates during pandemic lockdowns. Which, by the way, didn’t happen.
Suicides decreased by almost 6 percent last year during the COVID-19 pandemic, the sharpest drop in 4 decades.
I’m sure that some statistics will prove the lockdowns were harmful to people. No sh*t, Sherlock. I certainly haven’t enjoyed being cooped up. But consider the alternative:
If California had Florida’s COVID-19 death rate, roughly 6,000 more Californians would be dead. And if Florida had California’s death rate, roughly 3,000 fewer Floridians would be dead from COVID-19.
It’s my point of view that TV station KUSI’s news division has engaged in practices that endanger the health of Californians. And I’d like to point out that their license (permit #0000004833) to use the public airwaves is expiring on December 1, 2022.
I don’t care if KUSI is conservative, liberal, or flat-earthers. I do care that they think they can endanger the public. If you happen to know of local businesses that advertise on the station, it can't hurt to make your opinion known.
Citizens can oppose a station’s license renewal once the FCC announces it has accepted the entity’s application, generally several months before the expiration date. We’ll come back to that once the time gets closer.
In the meantime, if you have the time to write KUSI management a letter, their mailing address is: CHANNEL 51 OF SAN DIEGO, INC. 4575 VIEWRIDGE AVE SAN DIEGO, CA, 92123
Be sure to note that you want the letter included in their FCC public file.
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Email me at WritetoDougPorter@Gmail.com