News Item

Does reporting on panic buying fuel panic buying? | Columbia Journalism Review

As the coronavirus spreads with unsettling speed across the world, so has press coverage of hoarding. Food. Medical supplies. Toilet paper. Panicked citizens with frustratingly little control over a pandemic are instead seizing upon one thing they can do, which is stock up for what feels like an apocalypse.

News outlets can’t get enough of these stories. Local, international, tabloids, institutions, across every medium, reporters are telling consumers over and over that their neighbors are buying too much for stores to keep essentials in stock. The saturation level raises an uncomfortable question: Is our coverage part of the problem?

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Source: Does reporting on panic buying fuel panic buying? | Columbia Journalism Review