Page - 202 - in VULNERABLE - The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19

VULNERABLE202 augmentait, comme c’est généralement le cas lors d’une crise, les médias avaient moins de ressources financières et humaines pour y répondre. De même, ils disposaient généralement de peu de jour- nalistes et de rédacteurs en chef formés et expérimentés dans le domaine scientifique, contrairement à la politique, à l’économie et à la culture. Malgré tout, les médias ont mobilisé les ressources aux- quelles ils avaient accès et ont fait un travail honorable en couvrant les faits de la crise qui leur étaient présentés par les responsables de la santé publique et les dirigeants politiques, eux-mêmes guidés par ces responsables. Les médias se sont intéressés, bien que tardivement, aux problèmes révélés par la crise, notamment dans les résidences de soins de longue durée et les maisons de retraite. The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted a paradox for today’s media. Seldom was the thirst for information greater than during this crisis; never was the news media’s financial wherewithal thinner for providing information about it. Crises heighten worries about the unknown. Think of 9/11. Who does not remember the news of those attacks? The shock produced fear. Were terrorists going to strike elsewhere? Were they part of a larger assault for which we were not prepared? Who were these peo- ple, and what did they want? Canada closed its airspace to commercial flights for four days after the planes crashed into buildings in New York and Washington, DC, in contrast to the prolonged shutdown during the coronavirus cri- sis. After swift and adroit diplomatic efforts by the Chrétien govern- ment, notably senior minister John Manley, Canada presented ideas to a stunned U.S. government about how and why to keep open the Canada–U.S. border. By contrast, the Canada–U.S. border remained closed for months, except for “essential travel,” which included com- merce. Normal travel by people was forbidden. The aftermath of the 9/11 attacks inflicted very modest economic damage on Canada but no public health woes. The coronavirus has produced both a public health crisis and an economic meltdown. News about terrorism continued for years after 9/11. But at home, terrorism news was eventually relegated to the back pages, except when separate terrorist incidents occurred on Parliament Hill and in Quebec. Just as long waiting lines for airport security