A CBS radio news item this morning addressed the possibility of new "super bugs" that are immune to current vaccines and present a risk of wiping out significant portions of the population.
The reason given for the lack of new vaccines was that drug companies saw little prospect for profit.
On the face of it, that might seem fairly balanced, except its not. It is true that the lack of profit will cause a company not to invest. What was omitted was the CAUSE of the lack of profits. Some of those causes include the cost of developing, testing and complying with governmental regulations, and the cost of defending against the inevitable lawsuits. Those are costs that are borne by a drug company prior to selling any new drug product.
You may argue whether those regulations benefit the population or not; that is NOT the purpose of this thread. This thread simply address the way the media present the news.
Their choice of words--to blame the lack of new drugs on "lack of profit", implies that mean old drug companies bear the fault for not operating in the public good. But they fail to point out the reasons behind those decisions, and in so doing tell one side,--- the anti-capitalism side--of the story.
It could have been reported that the lack of new drugs was due to high costs of developing those drugs brought about partly by the cost of complying with government regulations. Such a report would have been equally as true, and not have the anti-capitalism slant.
Again, this thread is not the place to discuss the propriety of government regs. It is the place to discuss the choice of words and POV presented in supposedly "straight news" reporting. It's a subtle thing.

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You want us to comment on a radio report we didn't hear?

Let Hooper take a turn.


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Their "choice of words" might be simply reporting the facts. The drug company could have stated that the new drug isn't profitable.

You've decided that those words imply something and that the reporter is biased.

Now, just who do you think is really biased?

Sounds to me like the report was about superbugs, not the woes of being in the drug business. I don't see how citing lack of profitability makes them look like mean old drug companies. Nobody with a lick of sense thinks they do that work pro bono. What it does sound like is that you're of the opinion that any report that isn't overtly apologetic towards business is "biased".

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You mean this report? Podcasts - MyNorthwest.com

Really? That's what you heard? Or what your perceive?

I heard: 1) It's hard to develop new antibiotics; and 2) there's more money to be made developing other drugs. So, they spend the money where they get a return on investment.

A Google search for CBS radio and superbug also shows the CBS reports on a new superbug about every quarter: the e. coli superbug, the gonorrhea superbug, the in-your-food superbug, etc.

Had this thread been about "lack of creativity in reporting" I'd have said "sure" but the tiresome "the media doesn't report the news the way I expect to hear it and is therefore biased because it doesn't agree with my preconceptions of reality" topic? Not so much...

"Chief put out the fire would ya"

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A Podcast About Media Bias

Is it measureable? Has "the liberal media" shifted voters to the left? Is it media bias or plain old pandering to subscribers? Are we blind to our own bias?

It's a good podcast to touch on some of those issues.

yes, the media outlets, owned by large, profit seeking (and making) corporations - abc/disney, nbc/ Ge? Universal? cbs? Viacom? - actually broadcast subtle, anti capitalist messages, which infiltrate the mind of the average viewer, causing him/her to immediately seek out - and study - Das Kapital and Mao's little red book. thanks for enlightening us. Joe Hill did not die in vain. (oh, you don't know who he was? time to ramp up the propaganda.)

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Nope that wasn't the report I heard. It was similar, but the one you posted had a lot more detail, and explanation about why drug companies were not developing vaccines against the superbugs- very well balanced.

If that had been the report I heard, I would not have posted what I did.

What I "heard" is what I posted; neither more, nor less.

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags

You posted your interpretation of what you heard.

It sounds like MS wants less government regulation.

Even with the current regulation we seem to hear on a regular basis that our drugs are:
1. Ineffective for the use prescribed.
2. Actually harmful to our health.
3. Over priced.
4. Obscenely profitable.

Before there was govt regs they used to put just anything in bottles and go around selling it to gullible folks.

Wanna go back to that?

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..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

WTF? There's no liberal bias.

How do I know?

It's easy: The liberals don't see it. therefore it can't be real.

Move along.

UNTRUE.
I am quite capable of separating observations from conclusions. The words i reported were the words I heard. Sorry if it doesn't fit your preconception.

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags