Wisegiving

The amazing Amanda Ripley earned my undying respect with her research, “Complicating the Narratives,” — about how journalists can help bridge divides by asking questions as mediators in high conflict zones have learned to do. Her newest piece, “How to cover uncertainty and statistics in a pandemic, without making things worse,” is equally important. She writes, “If you are going to report the number of deaths, you should report the number of lives saved. Why? Because one shows the threat, and the other shows our control over the threat. Millions of human beings are working on managing this threat, including nurses, scientists, doctors and sick people and their families. Where is their scoreboard? This is not about making people feel good or minimizing the seriousness of this threat. It’s about telling the truth.” Her work is always so measured, thoughtful and so important.