40 Comments - aon ... - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 11:41 am: Bravo! Need to get that message into print media. - Pundent - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 11:42 am: I’ll second the click bait comment. Saw a headline yesterday that said the LGBTQ community was at higher risk of contracting the virus. Why? Because as a community they have a higher percentage of smokers, and smokers are (obviously) at greater risk. But if the headline reads smokers at higher risk, nobody clicks. - anon - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 11:42 am: When fed/state/local fail to communicate well and frequently during a crisis, a void is created - which will be filled by rumor mongers. It’s human nature to feel, in the face of silence from government officials, that something negative is going on. Fertile ground for rumors to take hold. Pritzker and Lightfoot have done well so far. Imagine it’s been exhausting, and it’s been appreciated. - Lester Holt’s Mustache - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 11:42 am: == receptionist was complaining that the city of Champaign was seizing guns.== Never understood why it is that my fellow gun owners are, by far, the most paranoid group of human beings. - Stuff Happens - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 11:44 am: One of my anonymous sources who uses burner accounts to re-tweet important Twitter posts about CapitolFax is reporting they may or may not have heard that the existence of the rumor is being speculated on. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 11:49 am: The sole uses of social media should be the human need for compassion, understanding, and warmth, along with *your own* searches for information from unequivocally credible sources. Right now? The Chicagoland tradition of “My (blank) is a (cop, fireman, works for the city) is on “11” out of “10” on the rumor mill scale. The “in-law uncle”, married to your favorite aunt, will have texted this/these variations of phony rumors 4,795 times… already. Stay calm, binge watch television, stay home, work from home, don’t let idle minds distract you with ridiculous rumors. - Cold of Winter - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 11:50 am: And when I show my conspiracy-minded friend the Snopes info, they let me know Snopes is biased because they’re funded by Soros. Snopes own site search on their own bias shows complaints that ‘both sides’ think it’s biased against them, depending on the debunked claim. But facts do still matter-just not to some. - NIU Grad - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 11:50 am: “Never understood why it is that my fellow gun owners are, by far, the most paranoid group of human beings.” Because the NRA realized 20 years ago that this paranoia is the best way to raise funds and elect GOP candidates. - Adam - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 11:51 am: I would say this is generally good advice, but as one of those people with a red rose next to my name (proud member of DSA) he took a disappointing turn. Everyone is susceptible to the rumor-mill regardless of their politics. And in some places, DSA members are leading mutual aid projects. Just leave it at fact check, verify, and question. - Annonin' - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 11:51 am: Had an Uber driver this a.m. She was a person of faith and at the end of my ride she offered a brochure inviting me to church. It was very reassuring. - jimbo26 - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 12:03 pm: What would you expect from WICS which is owned by Sinclair Broadcasting. More & more Springfield people watch another TV station for accurate reporting. - Fly like an eagle - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 12:03 pm: “Illinois mayor can ban booze and guns under coronavirus emergency act“ New York Post “Champaign to hold Emergency Meeting: Grant powers to ban sale of firearms, gasoline, liquor, take possession of private property” Edgar County Watchdogs “Champaign, IL attempts to suspend constitutional rights and impose martial law” Wirepoints It’s not that the receptionist was dumb, it’s because she’s been reading the news. It’s your fellow journalists spreading rumors. - A Jack - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 12:04 pm: I hope that as medical facilities ramp up their ability to care for the sick that social isolation policies are revisited. Social isolation may have longer term impacts on mental health than the virus has on physical health. - Proud Sucker - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 12:10 pm: @Cold of Winter Of late, I look at Snopes to see what sources they use for a particular item and grab fresh links to those sources to use in my corrective posts. It knocks down some of the knee-jerk resistance. - Leatherneck - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 12:12 pm: “WICS TV, which has been the absolute worst at clickbait tweets, has finally calmed itself down in recent days. Everyone needs to do the same.” ———– And on top of it, today has at least a Slight to Enhanced Risk of Severe Weather (all aspects possible) statewide. Can you imagine what it would have been like today on Channel 20 if Joe Crain hadn’t called the station/Sinclair out last summer on their “Code Red” for any marginal storm threat and above? That plus the coronavirus they probably would have took today to “Code Purple.” Embarassing to even think about. - Lynn S. - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 12:15 pm: Adam, would you kindly explain what”DSA” is? That knowledge might make your comment more understandable. Thanks in advance. - Socially DIstant Watcher - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 12:22 pm: I understand why the NRA and Republicans want gun owners to be so nervous. I can’t understand why gun owners fall for it every single time. - Back to the Future - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 12:22 pm: Nice point to make about rumors. It is so easy for things to get out of hand with social media goofballs and the constant news cycle. - Blaine Jr. - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 12:23 pm: Cook County Chief Judge Evans has postponed all court hearings for 30 days. All but a handful judges will remain for emergencies and bond court. 600 judges will rotate so every judge will receive a 29 day vacation. - ajjacksson - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 12:24 pm: Here’s a completely unsubstantiated rumor: Andrew Luck is coming out of retirement to play for the Patriots. Text this to a Patriot fan to give them false hope! - Grandson of Man - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 12:29 pm: We’re in dangerous times when it comes to purposeful misinformation. We have the top leader of the country, the president, demonizing and trying to delegitimize news media. This president says Russian interference is a hoax, giving the biggest green light to misinformation. Agree, stick with trusted, established news sources. There’s a reason why newspapers have opinions sections. - RNUG - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 12:30 pm: == Never understood why it is that my fellow gun owners are, by far, the most paranoid group of human beings. == I don’t think I’m paranoid but … maybe because it has been done before. Remember New Orleans and Katrina? NRA filed a lawsuit to get the firearms returned, and the city finally settled in 2008 and agreed to return them. New Orleans mismanaged a lot of things before and after Katrina; that just one of the things they did. I remember screaming at the TV for days about their not implementing their Disaster Recovery plan they had on paper, and had even tested about 6 months before the hurricane. The other reason is, maybe, a lot of local officials may not be familiar with the 2006 Homeland Security bill had an amendment that is supposed to prevent those types of firearms seizures from happening again. When city governments start talking about restricting firearms during an emergency, they are skating close to the next step of seizure. - Comma Chameleon - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 12:34 pm: Fear, rumors, near panic, accidental and deliberate misinformation, profound distrust of official authorities, fakes and fraudulent cures: it’s all there in Daniel Defoe’s “A Journal of the Plague Year.” Though it closely traces events in the Great Plague of London, 1665-66, it was written in 1722. Allegedly, Defoe wrote it as a warning to keep the same things from happening again, and to commend those who acted in the public interest. It’s a wonder that, nearly three hundred years later, so many of the same social cleavages and tensions are still so very active. You can find “A Journal of the Plague Year” at: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/376 - Cubs in '16 - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 12:35 pm: Dr Naam is experiencing the unfortunate byproduct of living and practicing in Effingham. I live there as well. I’ve given up trying to correct the misinformation I see on local comment threads. A large number of residents are quick to judge and nearly impossible to educate. - Anyone Remember - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 12:39 pm: “More & more Springfield people watch another TV station for accurate reporting.” Can’t remember the last time I watched Tom Tucker and Susan Myles. - JoanP - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 12:42 pm: When I saw the photos of gun owners stocking up on ammo, I wondered if they planned to shoot the virus. Someone on a site I frequent posted a lengthy screed about “How to Avoid Coronovirus”. Pretty much everything in it was useless and/or dangerous. Fortunately, when the mods were alerted, the post was removed. - Rich Miller - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 12:44 pm: ===Text this to a Patriot fan to give them false hope! === Or text it to a Colts fan and watch her scream with anger. lol - RNUG - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 12:46 pm: == When I saw the photos of gun owners stocking up on ammo, I wondered if they planned to shoot the virus. == Think it has more to do with various local law enforcement announcing what crimes they won’t be responding to. A couple of the announcements I read sounded like they were only responding to crimes against persons. - Rich Miller - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 12:47 pm: ===took a disappointing turn=== Poor child. The past week or so have showed me just how dangerously undemocratic and unhinged that movement really is. - Irma Gerd - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 12:49 pm: Touche on the stupid rumors. My panicked mother called to tell me she heard the IL National Guard was spotted on I55 - and speculated they were heading to the Capitol to shut it down, and advised me to get to the store and panic shop. And, of course she shared in on FB. doh. - MakePoliticsCoolAgain - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 12:50 pm: -Andrew Luck is coming out of retirement to play for the Patriots.- This rumor has been floating around since the day Luck retired. At least the media isn’t bored enough to be peddling this malarkey again…. - Rich Miller - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 12:57 pm: ===It’s your fellow journalists=== The NYP is the worst paper in the country and the people at the other two outfits are not journalists. Don’t put me in with those people. - Anotheretiree - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 1:05 pm: Rumors are out of control but so is misleading information from on high. We were all led to believe this was mainly a danger to over 60. Now it appears all are at risk. 40% of admissions are 20-54 year olds. I’m guess it was incomplete Chinese info. Def watch WAND-17 especially, today since their weather radar is more detailed. They show tornadoes crossing roads in the country… - Fly like an eagle - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 1:19 pm: Sorry Rich. You’re way better than those other jamokes for sure. - Nieva - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 1:27 pm: I don’t repeat anything I hear unless I see it on Capital Fax first. - ugh - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 1:35 pm: “I ran some errands the other day and a receptionist was complaining that the city of Champaign was seizing guns. I told her it isn’t happening. She defiantly refused to believe me, even though I do this for a living. It’s not happening.” Welcome to my world. This is what Thanksgiving has felt like at my extended family’s house for years now. Did you know Bruce Rauner was a Republican Governor, just like them, loved guns and really supported unions? Who knew? - Ginhouse Tommy - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 2:19 pm: I saw a story 2 days ago that the dog that had contracted the disease had died. It was in Hong Kong and was a 17 year old Pomeranian. Why ever post it at all. - Captain Who - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 2:55 pm: I don’t have Facebook and I don’t feel I’m missing anything. I find it sad that many people get their news from there. - park - Thursday, Mar 19, 20 @ 8:17 pm: Thanks, Rich. Always good advice, but particularly during the current insanity. We don’t need to add to the stress. - 17% Solution - Friday, Mar 20, 20 @ 5:27 am: == When city governments start talking about restricting firearms during an emergency, they are skating close to the next step of seizure.== If it’s illegal it’s illegal. How could city governments be doing any “skating”? Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.