I See A ‘European Championships For Dead People’

at

Oh yes.

This afternoon.

During RTÉ’s News At One, Sean Whelan reported on statistics which show 32,000 people with Covid-19 have died in the United Kingdom.

Mr Whelan said he would caution against saying that the UK “definitely has the highest death toll in Europe” given the different ways different countries are counting deaths.

He signed off with this bombshell:

“It is probable that the UK has the biggest death toll now but we can’t say that for certain. And unfortunately we are going to have to wait a while until the standard European statistical methodology of counting excess deaths, adjusted for age, at the end of the year come out.

At that point you can definitely blow the whistle and say that’s it, these people have won the European championships for dead people which is not a nice thing to be looking at.

It’s the only thing not cancelled this year.

Listen back in full here.

Sponsored Link

16 thoughts on “I See A ‘European Championships For Dead People’

    1. GiggidyGoo

      We won’t be let forget that. Michilín has already engaged his ‘but brexit’ mantra alongside his ‘but Covid’ one.

  1. GiggidyGoo

    You know something – something that gets to me – have a look at the RTE News tonight. See how many people are set up to report on one story.

    Studio newsreader
    Outside Broadcast person
    Inside RTE Correspndent
    Fergal Bowers

    All telling the same news.

    Next story
    Another,line up of 2,3,4

    And all giving the same story.

    Time was when the news could be given by one person. Nowadays you have the Sean Whelan’s of this world giving news that the newsreader could give. More cats lapping up the cream in RTE.

    1. H

      I totally agree, it’s one thing asking an expert in the field or having an on the scene reporter when appropriate but most of the additional talking heads reporting on the same story these days are completely superfluous to requirements.

      1. Isallimsaying

        And what’s this thing of filming people walking past the camera, before they’re interviewed?

  2. f_lawless

    I remember commenting a few weeks ago that it seemed almost like RTE were fetishising death statistics..

    1. Clampers Outside

      Isn’t that the point he’s making, about the fetishising of death stats.
      It goes on here too.

      Everyone, including myself, who has engaged in the discussions and debates about flattening curves, deaths per million, deaths per testing stats, deaths per type of testing, deaths per country, deaths per age, per pre-condition, per gender, per day, week, month and on and on and on…. Its not just RTE, its every feckin’ news channel on the planet, even my feckin Weather App has a section on death stats for covid. Again, it’s not just RTE, it’s every media outlet on the planet and everyone who engages with that news.

      1. f_lawless

        that’s a fair point – but I think you can argue there’s a distinction between genuinely trying to interpret statistics in a level-headed way so as best understand the phenomenon and using them in a manipulative way for shock value purposes

Comments are closed.

Sponsored Link
Broadsheet.ie