The H1N1 flu dominated newscasts and headlines across Canada in 2009.
And a staggering number of our listeners believe the virus was overhyped.
91 per cent of the people who responded to our recent online news survey say H1N1 was overhyped.
One respondent believes the coverage was overkill and turned the story boring, while another says the situation was blown way out of proportion.
Still another points out the seasonal flu kills far more people than H1N1 does.
And one respondent calls H1N1 and the vaccination rollout a “Conspiracy Theory” so that drug companies could bump their profit margin.
Only 7 per cent of the respondents to our poll believe H1N1 was not overhyped and it’s important to get the word out.
One respondent says “you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t” and recalls the SARS incident when everyone was criticized.
A mere 2 per cent believe the amount of H1N1 media coverage was appropriate.
There were a total of 100 respondents the Bayshore Broadcasting News survey.
While the debate rages on about whether the story earned more play than it deserved – H1N1 has been selected as The Canadian Press news story of the year.
The virus scored 92 of 132 votes in the annual year-end survey of newspaper and broadcast newsrooms, with editors calling it a coast-to-coast story that people followed with interest no matter where they lived.
And H1N1 is also leading the running in the current Bayshore Broadcasting News survey about the top Canadian news story of 2009.
To vote in our survey – visit our website at www.bayshorebroadcasting.ca