Overblown, sensationalist media coverage for the cruise industry shocker! – This time it’s Ebola.

I know I’ve mentioned it before but the overblown, sensationalist, scaremongering media coverage of the recent ‘Ebola incident’ on a recent Carnival cruise really got my goat as they say. It’s no secret that the press seem overtly fascinated by people who occasionally get ill while being on a cruise holiday, a sickness bug on a cruise ship seems to be a global media event where as a sickness bug on any other type of holiday, just a non event.

I’ve read over the last few days of ‘cruise ship Ebola this’ and ‘cruise ship Ebola that’, articles which for some reason wish to do as much damage to the cruise industry as possible. To be honest reading between the lines i’m not sure I’ve ever read such a non-story.

I’ve picked out a few specifics from some of the aforementioned articles, see what you think.

“A lab worker from the Dallas hospital who may have handled specimens collected from the first person to be given a diagnosis of Ebola in the US, went into voluntary quarantine in her cabin along with her husband last Wednesday”. – Concrete evidence there then!

One woman who had just disembarked from the Carnival Magic seemed to feel a lot like me and she was actually on the cruise! She said “Y’all blew it out of proportion,” all you had to do is stay out of it and there wouldn’t have been a problem but y’all blew it out of proportion. My family were scared to death because they were watching the news.” – Referring to media over exaggeration.

Another article stated “the woman showed no symptoms during the cruise but self-quarantined out of caution” – No symptoms- enough said!

With the threat so small, the main effect of the incident has been to underline how the virus has disproportionately spread fear among the public, and yet again cast a shadow over the safety of the cruise industry, arguably due entirely to the media trying to find a story where there simply isn’t one.

So if the woman showed no symptoms, probably hasn’t been any closer to Ebola than you or me, and even the passengers on board agreeing that this whole thing has been blown out of all proportion – where is the story?

Whos’ with me?

Bye for now.