I've Got A Story, And I'm Going To Tell It

Not that anyone asks anymore, but I became very hesitant about talking to big publication journalists after too many conversations where the story was already written and they were just looking for, and pushing for, the right quote to slot into the story. Usually for less important stuff than this! 

I like @RottenInDenmark's comment on this article, and what makes it even more surprising is that I spent 90 min with the author and spoke about how Sierra Leone's Ebola experience led to more effective government responses to COVID early in the pandemic https://t.co/UKuMQ3x8mO https://t.co/mHfvawVnJX

— Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak (@mushfiq_econ) April 4, 2022

Maybe authorities in some countries in Africa (which is a very big continent made up of many different countries) just knew what they were doing! Nah, can't be.

There's also been a series of NYT articles about the Asian response which have focused on THE HORRIBLE COST of saving millions of lives, never understanding that "draconian" mitigation efforts are also accompanied by normal life because that's how it works.  You can't have normal with a lot of sick people!  Successful mitigation and isolation can reduce the number of sick people!

(no country has handled everything perfectly and every approach has its costs and imperfections, but 'despite our horrible death toll, everyone else must be doing it wrong' has been a running theme)