The Lab Leak Theory is Finally Gaining Ground
Why Didn't It Gain Ground Much Sooner?
Hello again!
Glad to be back! I took some time off with this newsletter because I had to focus on moving to a new apartment, and also wrapping the Spring semester with my classes. Now that everything is settled, I am back working on this newsletter - which as you can see has been renamed as, “The Media and Us”. This sounds better than the previous name, and makes it more clear that this newsletter is dedicated to our relationship with the news media, and vice versa, as we deal with the public discourse during these tense times.
Onward!
Cartoon by Lisa Benson
You probably have been hearing this week about how scientists, the neutral and left leaning news media, and even President Biden, are taking a closer look at the theory that COVID19 pandemic came about when it escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Previously, it was said that COVID19 originated in bats and passed onto humans, somehow. Any notion that the virus originated at the Institute was treated like a conspiracy theory…until now.
So why is the Lab Leak Theory being taken seriously now? Why not last year?
If you want my guess, last year was so chaotic, and the misinformation going around about COVID19 was something else. Remember the 5G and the bat soup conspiracies?
Also, investigations into the origins of COVID19 didn't take place yet.
But now there has been an investigation, in which China wasn't very cooperative. At the same time, a U.S. intel report revealed that three researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology being hospitalized with COVID19 symptoms in November 2019. In addition, there were concerns last year about racism towards Asians over COVID19, which helps explain why the Lab Leak Theory wasn’t taken seriously enough last year (that didn’t stop from hate crimes against Asians from skyrocketing since then…).
Now, please note that yes, former President Donald Trump did support the Lab Leak Theory. However, he made it sound like it engineered at the Institute as a bioweapon to bring him down. Such a hypothesis has not been supported, because COVID19 is global and has killed about 3.5 million people worldwide. So, for China to engineer a bioweapon to hurt the U.S., and Trump himself, doesn’t add up in that sense.
So with the Lab Leak Theory being taken seriously now, what does it mean when it comes to the news media in general reporting on something so important. Does it mean there's a conspiracy to hide information? Does it mean there’s a conspiracy by all liberals to denounce anything someone from the Right says?
Not really. Firstly, it should be noted that New York Magazine ran a cover story at the beginning of the year, where Nicholson Baker weighed in the evidence about the virus escaping a lab. Now, New York Magazine is quite liberal, and they also ran a story this week about how left-leaning outlets could have done a much better job at addressing this hypothesis rather than debunking it as a conspiracy theory (but they also mentioned how the New York Times considered this hypothesis last year a couple of times).
But does this still mean information is being hidden by the news media to their audiences? Is there a conspiracy by left-leaners to denounce anything the Right suggests?
It shouldn’t be put that way, because it’s always more complicated than that. As that recent New York Magazine article explained, many left-wing news outlets seemed too interested in battling with Trump than focusing on more important matters. Also, as mentioned, last year saw a flood of disinformation, and one conspiracy theory after another regarding COVID19, its origins, its cures, and so on. Last year was pure chaos and many reporters’ heads were spinning from it all. Heck, everyone’s heads were spinning from the disinformation, as well as the stress, anxiety, and even depression that the pandemic brought on.
Also, let’s keep in mind: the world is always changing. Beliefs change, attitudes change, etc.
The world is not linear, and neither is life, or people. Things change when new information comes up or something suspicious happens (such as the Chinese government being uncooperative with the investigation into COVID19’s origins). It does not mean everyone on the other side of the political spectrum is up to no good.
In addition, just because the theory that the virus leaked from the lab is now being taken seriously, does not automatically mean COVID19 was a bioweapon created by the Chinese government. No scientist has hinted so, and the words “lab leak” does not automatically translate to a man-made bioweapon.
Finally, just because the idea of the lab leak is being discussed more seriously these days does not mean it is final, COVID19 leaked from the lab. Honestly, if you want my opinion, I don’t think there will ever be an answer on how COVID19 came about - or at least, not for a long time. Given how the Chinese government is far from transparent on so many things, I think it will take a long time before solid answers are brought forward. But an investigation is a must, since this pandemic has killed or destroyed the lives of millions around the world. It is also important to understand the origins of COVID19 in order to prepare for future pandemics (humans are not invincible!).
But doing so is tricky. As the BBC quoted in its online article on the Lab Leak Theory being taken more seriously these days:
Until then, take a deep breath and relax. Yes, this hypothesis should’ve been taken more seriously sooner, but there was no sinister conspiracy. Of course, this issue does point on how the news media should handle itself during a chaotic time, especially as a swarm of conspiracy theories overtake the Internet and social media. As calls to investigate the Lab Leak Theory mount, perhaps the news media should re-evaluate on how to do its job whenever turmoil comes about again.
Before I go, I’d like to recommend this Substack Newsletter called Tangle, and its recent edition taking a look at the Lab Leak Theory. Tangle’s creator, Isaac Saul, does a great job weighing on what the Left and Right have to say about this issue, and he weighs it in both firmly and delicately. Please read!
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