With the coronoavirus sweeping across the planet like a… well, plague, news headlines are full of basically nothing else. Every time a new country is infected, or statistics on its spread and mortality rates are compiled, or new actions are implemented to combat the disease, we are presented with BREAKING NEWS on untold thousands of media channels.

It’s important to remember, then, that the primary success metric for almost all of them is the size of their audience. Fear and uncertainty are huge drivers for attention, as deeply rooted parts of our brains seek out information and solutions to problems, and the news channels know this better than anyone. They drip feed just enough important sounding information to keep readers/viewers pinned in place, but without ever providing so much that they aren’t hungry for more.

Of course, we should not be entirely cynical of the news. Plenty of good, useful journalism is happening to gather information and allow us to make informed choices in a difficult time, and the outbreak is a very serious problem which requires serious solutions, but it is important to keep a little perspective. If all of the information you are seeing is coming from news channels, never forget that they are not really interested in informing you, but to keep you watching for as long as possible.

Panic is good for them as the increased uncertainty, and decreased capacity for rational decision making, leads to viewers consuming more and more of their content in a less than savoury feedback loop. Instead, become properly informed by searching out a range of primary sources and expert opinions, take what precautions you think will be necessary for your very specific situation, and stay safe.