Here I am complaining about Fox News acting as the press secretary for the Bush Administration, and then I come across this article from the Khaleej Times in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The article, located at the bottom of the web page is about pest control and claims the following about bedbugs:
Bed bugs are major transmitters of diseases including HIV and hepatitis so all
precautions should be taken to use good quality of spray.
Now that’s scary.
Several times a week I’ll peruse the web for news stories related to bed bugs. Coverage is usually scarce, and most of these articles mention the same information-sometimes even the same personal accounts from those bitten by bed bugs-that has appeared in other articles in the past.
But I came across one news story that bewildered me. The headline had the words “bed bugs” in it, so I clicked on it. First of all, this particular reporter, like most other reporters whose bed bug articles I’ve read in the last few months, must think he’s the only reporter to have ever employed the adage “Sleep tight; don’t let the bed bugs bite” in their headline. It just proves a famous statement made by Bill Maher on alleged media bias: “The media isn’t biased; they’re just lazy.” After skimming this article, I couldn’t agree more. The reporter didn’t even bother to make some clever spin on the old saying, he just wrote it in full and made it the headline.
Also, this reporter has failed to do his homework, as the “bed bugs” to which this reporter is referring are in fact dust mites. Technically, he’s right. Dust mites are in fact bugs, and according to this story, they reside in your bed, so they are bed bugs in name only.
Damn, why is coverage of this issue so lame? There’s a few good, informative stories out there, but the vast majority is copy-paste journalism, just regurgitated info from other sites written by someone who obviously has done no research of his own other than to lift info from other sources.
News coverage really has to start getting better because I don’t see this problem going away anytime soon. Almost everyday I see mattresses on on the curb next to an apartment building or house, sitting next to the rest of the garbage.
Woo hoo! MSNBC did a story on bed bugs and on their site lists bed bug-related blogs, including the Do You Have Herpes entry. Does this mean I’ve finally made my mark in the Blogosphere now that a big shot media outlet like MSNBC has thrown up a link to Bugged Out? Imagine the millions of people who will read Bugged Out because of that link. Is this some sort of blogger rite of passage? Can you tell I’m excited?
To see my link, scroll down to the sidebar box that says “Blog Buzz.” Bugged Out is the third link from the top.
Also, Dateline NBC will discuss bed bugs this Sunday night at 7 p.m., Eastern time. Maybe they’ll mention Bugged Out!
No, not me. Caitlin Heller a.k.a. The Caitlinator whose blog “The Bedbug Blog” was interviewed for a PBS article about animal behavior, in this case, bedbugs and its assault on New York City. Check out the article, then check out her blog. Let her know how much better her input made that article.
Also, Caitlin’s blog has alerted readers that the next episode of the King of Queens will feature Doug and Carrie (do you follow this show? I do, and not just because I’m from Queens!) having their home turned upside down because her father returned from a Florida vacation and brought back bedbug-infested hotel sheets. King of Queens airs on CBS at 8 pm next Monday.
You know the shit has truly hit the fan once the sitcoms are putting it into their otherwise formulaic episodes.