Happy New Year: Coronavirus denialism and holiday musings

I went radio silent for the last few weeks of 2020 in conjunction with the holiday break. In the Covid-19 era, stealing away for the end of the year really just meant relocating from my home office to the sofa in the living room. But you get my drift.

So let’s catch up on some items I came across as last year drew to a merciful close.

*How big of a problem is Covid-19 denialism in the United States? A pair of Rutgers law professors made the case in a STAT op-ed that dismissal of the pandemic as a hoax is rare. More importantly, they argue that overblowing the prevalence of outright denialism has stymied progress on getting the country out of its current lurch.

This raises a question that is more interesting to me than the merits of distinguishing between denialism and skepticism. Would those who believe the balance has shifted too far in favor of strict Covid-19 mitigation say they have done enough to repudiate the misinformation and conspiracy theories spread by pandemic cranks and grifters?

If the answer is “no,” then clarifying your own message in concert with like-minded people is a better starting point than complaining about misrepresentation.

*Sometimes public goods come in conflict what’s good for business. Such is the case for a handful of companies following the development of the Covid-19 vaccine. Rob Peters of compliance firm Intelligize ponders the sometimes uncomfortable intersection of good news with corporate risk disclosures.

*The world’s largest investment firm, BlackRock, has gained notoriety in recent years for its public statements calling on Corporate America to give greater consideration to social impact. Climate-change activist Bill McKibben explains why he’s skeptical about the asset manager’s commitment to the cause.

*One of my favorite podcasts to emerge in the last year is Kara Swisher’s “Sway,” produced and distributed by The New York Times. I could recommend a laundry list of episodes, but definitely check out her discussion with NYT columnist Nicholas Kristof about his reporting that led to Mastercard blocking payments to Pornhub. The episodes ends with a broader conversation about corporate social responsibility.

*One more podcast episode that is worth a listen: In this episode of “Chasing Interesting,” host Craig Hoffman and political strategist Greg Pinelo discuss how to talk about policy during political campaigns. Somewhere around the midway point, they delve into the heart of a major communications hurdle for the current generation of progressives.

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