On May 3, 2021, an Australian news reporter from Sky News Australia reported on “20 simple points,” of what governments are refusing to tell their people. Throughout the news report, Alan Jones had a motive to strike the hearts of those watching the report emotionally, with the motive to gain a reaction from the Australian Government as they were shutting down their borders from anyone traveling from India, even those that were Australian citizens. What was being vocalized throughout the video all had background research applied to the points, but embellishment did occur. Sky News Australia is a network that is aired on television across Australia and New Zealand. With that being said, they do receive viewership with everything that they do air. On mediabiasfactcheck.com, the network received a mixed rating, right below mostly factual for the level of factual reporting that the network airs. This means that the network is sometimes known for failing fact checks, and making unproven claims.
- Alan Jones claims that COVID-19 is not a pandemic due to the number of deaths globally
The first of Alan Jones’ points began with the amount of people that have died from COVID globally, challenging the definition of a Pandemic. “As of today, 3.2 million people have died from or with the Corona Virus. Second point, 0.38 percent of the population, 0.38 percent of the population. Third point, that is not a pandemic”(Jones, 2021). Little does Alan Jones know, is that the number of deaths from the virus is what makes a pandemic. According to the CDC, a pandemic is when an “Event in which a disease spreads across several countries and affects a large number of people”(CDC.gov, July, 2020). The virus began as an epidemic when it spread through Wuhan, it was then classified as a pandemic when it was then spread to several different countries(CDC.gov, July, 2020).
2. Jones makes the statement that the death toll from COVID in India is not as bad as what the news has made it out to be.
As this report came out in the rise of COVID cases that were occurring in India, Jones focuses on the small amount of deaths from the virus compared to the number of deaths that occur each day in the country. “My fourth, in India, which the headlines tell us is COVID ravaged. As of today, there have been 219,000 deaths. Fifth point, that is 0.168 percent of the population, 0.168 percent. Sixth point, on Thursday, we were breathlessly told 3,640 people have died in India, presumably of Corona Virus death. Seventh point, 27,000 people die in India every day”(Jones, May 3, 2021). Alan Jones brings to light the amount of deaths that India tallies each day, minimizing how severe the amount COVID related deaths are compared to how many deaths India has each day in a general sense. According to Med India, there are 73,787 births, with 26,789 deaths each day in India(medindia.net).
3. Alan Jones conveys that 99.4 percent of COVID cases are mild.
Through out the news report, Jones continues to down grade the severity of COVID by conveying statistics that have no background information. Jones goes on to say that, “just as not a single person in government has told us that 99 percent plus, tonight it is 99.4 percent of all Corona Virus cases are mild”(Jones, May 3, 2021). The stat that Jones’ felt very comfortable conveying to his audience was one that received some embellishment. According to Healthline, and many other credible sources, 80 percent of cases are estimated to be mild(Ries, February, 2021). With that being said, that is just an estimation, there is no hard evidence of the true percentage of cases that are mild, proving Jones’ claim to be false.
