Sky-Is-Falling Routine Getting Old

Why are CNN and the NY Times scaring voters about coronavirus on the front page but reassuring investors in the financial section?

President Donald J. Trump, joined by Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar, takes questions from the press following the signing of the congressional funding bill for coronavirus response Friday, March 6, 2020, in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Tia Dufour)

Many in the media may feel they have good reason and are perfectly justified in hitting Donald Trump with everything they have, including the insinuation that he is more evil and incompetent than anyone who has ever lived, and uniquely so at that.

But it does not hurt the Trump administration for the media to continue to assure the public that the sky is, in fact, falling; if the sky fails to fall. And it has failed to fall on Donald Trump every single time.

When absolutely none of these absurd and dire predictions comes to pass, Donald Trump emerges unscathed yet again and stronger than before.

This song-and-dance does, however, undermine the credibility of the media, who are obviously driven by much more than an altruistic desire to communicate current events to the public in a reasonable and unbiased way.

Their most obvious incentive for hyping the coronavirus outbreak is money: The ratio of advertising income to clicks and page-views.

But turning coronavirus coverage into clickbait shouldn’t be constitutionally protected free-speech. It shouldn’t be a part of a responsible press, let alone front-page, in-your-face, constant…