Watch: Elisabeth Rosenthal on the Covid-19 'Infodemic' and the Media

Jon Greenberg interviewed Elisabeth Rosenthal, editor-in-chief of KHN; Shefali Luthra, health and gender reporter at The 19th; and Derek Thompson, staff writer for The Atlantic, about covid-19 misinformation during PolitiFact’s United Facts of America: A Festival of Fact-Checking.

The journalists discussed the challenging environment for news and facts that grew out of the pandemic. One major issue was that Americans simply were not used to the idea that infectious diseases could cause mass disaster, Rosenthal said. That mentality, combined with misinformation spread by then-President Donald Trump, made it easy for lies about the virus to perpetuate.

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<h1>Watch: Elisabeth Rosenthal on the Covid-19 ‘Infodemic’ and the Media</h1>
<div>		<time class="posted-on" datetime="2021-05-17T05:00:00-04:00">
			May 17, 2021		</time>
		</div>
<p>Jon Greenberg interviewed Elisabeth Rosenthal, editor-in-chief of KHN; Shefali Luthra, health and gender reporter at The 19th; and Derek Thompson, staff writer for The Atlantic, about covid-19 misinformation during PolitiFact’s <a href="https://www.poynter.org/united-facts-of-america-a-festival-of-fact-checking/">United Facts of America: A Festival of Fact-Checking</a>. </p><p>The journalists discussed the challenging environment for news and facts that grew out of the pandemic. One major issue was that Americans simply were not used to the idea that infectious diseases could cause mass disaster, Rosenthal said. That mentality, combined with misinformation spread by then-President Donald Trump, made it easy for lies about the virus to perpetuate. </p><ul><li><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/watch-elisabeth-rosenthal-on-the-covid-19-infodemic-and-the-media/?share=x">				Click to share on X (Opens in new window)				X			</a></li><li><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/watch-elisabeth-rosenthal-on-the-covid-19-infodemic-and-the-media/?share=facebook">				Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)				Facebook			</a></li><li><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/watch-elisabeth-rosenthal-on-the-covid-19-infodemic-and-the-media/?share=linkedin">				Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)				LinkedIn			</a></li><li><a href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20Watch%3A%20Elisabeth%20Rosenthal%20on%20the%20Covid-19%20%27Infodemic%27%20and%20the%20Media&body=https%3A%2F%2Fkffhealthnews.org%2FMTMxMDI0NQ&share=email">				Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)				Email			</a></li><li><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/watch-elisabeth-rosenthal-on-the-covid-19-infodemic-and-the-media/#print?share=print">				Click to print (Opens in new window)				Print			</a></li><li>				<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/watch-elisabeth-rosenthal-on-the-covid-19-infodemic-and-the-media/view/republish/">					Republish This Story				</a>			</li></ul><em><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us">KFF Health News</a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about <a href="https://www.kff.org/about-us">KFF</a>.</em><p><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/morning-briefing/">Subscribe</a> to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing.</p><p>This <a target="_blank" href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/watch-elisabeth-rosenthal-on-the-covid-19-infodemic-and-the-media/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://kffhealthnews.org">KFF Health News</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src="https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/kffhealthnews-icon.png?w=150" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;"><img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://kffhealthnews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1310245&amp;ga4=G-J74WWTKFM0" style="width:1px;height:1px;"></p>

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