On ‘herd immunity,’ vaccines, and pandemic whiplash

In mid-March, as the British government dragged its feet on implementing strict coronavirus lockdown measures that it would soon impose anyway, Patrick Vallance, the country’s chief scientific adviser, gave a series of interviews and discussed a concept with which many people were not then familiar: “herd immunity,” or the threshold at which enough members of a given population are immune to an infectious disease that the disease’s spread is controlled. Vallance—and, later, other officials—seemed to suggest that the government’s goal was to allow the virus to circulate while shielding only the most vulnerable against it. As The Atlantic’s Ed Yong put it at the time, the message appeared to be: “Keep calm and carry on… and get COVID-19.” That notion met with a swift, fierce backlash, including among sections of the press—it was inhumane, critics charged, as well as being scientifically illiterate. Vallance and his colleagues quickly backtracked, insisting that letting the virus spread in the name of herd immunity wasn’t their plan, but merely a scientific concept; Matt Hancock, Britain’s health minister, insisted as much in an (initially paywalled) article for a right-wing newspaper. More charitable observers criticized the episode as merely a messaging disaster. (As one expert told Yong, “It’s been a case of how not to communicate during an outbreak.”) Others claimed that herd immunity actually was, at one point, Britain’s plan: In late March, the Sunday Times reported... Continue reading at 'Columbia Journalism Review'

[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2020-10-21 12:30:20 UTC ]
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Editors and agents have backed escapism and feel-good fiction to succeed during the pandemic and in its aftermath, with Covid-19 fiction appearing to be some way off. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-10 15:38:41 UTC ]
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AHRC launches pandemic culture campaign

The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) is to explore the impact of culture during the Covid-19 pandemic via a new campaign, Boundless Creativity. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-07 09:18:11 UTC ]
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Why a children's book startup is giving hazard pay during pandemic

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[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2020-05-01 05:01:00 UTC ]
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Left-wing indie publishers have formed a coalition to support each other during the pandemic.

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[ Literrary Hub | 2020-04-30 16:27:42 UTC ]
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Watch: Condé Nast's Pam Drucker Mann on the state of media in the pandemic

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[ Advertising Age | 2020-04-30 14:45:12 UTC ]
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Watch live at 10 a.m. EDT: Condé Nast's Pam Drucker Mann on the state of media in the pandemic

In this live episode of Ad Age Remotely, Condé Nast's chief revenue officer discusses how the publishing giant is navigating managing costs and ad revenue.  Continue reading at Advertising Age

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Boston, Philly Mag Owner Brings in New CEO to Navigate Pandemic | People on the Move

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[ Folio Magazine | 2020-04-29 22:35:01 UTC ]
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Watch live Thursday at 10 a.m. EDT: Condé Nast's Pam Drucker Mann on the state of media in the pandemic

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China Bestsellers March 2020: Bookstores Buck the Pandemic’s Paralysis

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-04-28 14:51:33 UTC ]
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Government brings in new loans to help pandemic-struck small businesses

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[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-27 14:18:05 UTC ]
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CCNY’s Publishing Certificate Program Faces the Pandemic

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The Pandemic Is Changing Book-Buying Patterns

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-04-24 04:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishing Executive | 2020-04-23 20:45:07 UTC ]
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Pandemic spikes youth reading habits, TRA survey finds

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