NPR has developed a disturbing range of semantics for the current Ebola crisis.
Consider these two reports, one on August 7th and one on August 2nd, 2014.
Aug. 7th: Officials Fear Ebola Will Spread Across Nigeria
Dave Greene – Reports on there only being two or three cases in Lagos, but Nigeria is declaring a state of emergency because Ebola is “…highly contagious….”
Aug. 2nd: Atlanta Hospital Prepares To Treat 2 Ebola Patients
Jim Burress – comments on a news conference at Emory:
“He downplayed any threat to public safety because the virus can only be spread through close contact with an infected person.”
To me, “highly contagious” and “close contact with an infected person” are worlds apart. Why the shift in semantics in only five days?
Curious if you have noticed this or other shifting semantics around the Ebola outbreak from other news outlets?
Not that I would advocate any one “true” semantic for the crisis but I wonder who would benefit from a Ebola-fear panic in Nigeria? Or who would benefit from no panic and a possible successful treatment for Ebola?
Working on the assumption that semantics vary depending on who benefits from a particular semantic.
Topic maps could help you “out” the beneficiaries. Or help you plan to conceal connections to the beneficiaries, depending upon your business model.
Update: A close friend pointed me to: FILOVIR: Scientific Resource for Research on Filoviruses. Website, twitter feed, etc. In case you are looking for a current feed of Ebola information, both public and professional.