Of course, I’m talking about the Associated Press (AP)—and its recent coverage of the Zika story: January 27, “270 of 4,180 suspected microcephaly cases confirmed.”
AP actually had its hands on the most explosive information possible, it reported that information in one stunning paragraph, and then it let that paragraph sit there like a dead corpse. It didn’t do anything with it. Just another day at the office. Connect the dots? See the implications? Never heard of it.
To set this up, earlier in the story, AP revealed that Brazilian researchers have been re-checking their own work on Zika, and lo and behold, the original 4,180 cases of babies born with small heads and brain impairment (microcephaly) have turned out to be only 270.
The Brazilians are going through more records. But so far, the “epidemic” is not even close to an epidemic. The whole story that has spread all over the world was based on 4,180 cases. Without that number, there would have been no story.
The AP piece then goes on to revelation number two. This is even more stunning:
“Brazilian officials said the babies with the defect [microcephaly/small heads, brain damage] and their mothers are being tested to see if they had been infected. Six of the 270 confirmed microcephaly cases were found to have the [Zika] virus.”