The offspring of celebrities and politicians can be downright snotty and usually a pain in the behind to interview. That is not the case with Hank IV, and if you are grappling for a connection, his name is Coleman but some call him Hank IV and his father, grandfather and great grandfather left him with a burden he didn’t ask for. He is Hank Williams IV and he is coming to Hemet along with his group, The Strange Band. He will be appearing at Derby’s Bar and Grill on West Florida Avenue on Saturday evening, August 27th.

This young man spreads Southern Charm as if he invented it. I was able to conduct that interview on Tuesday afternoon of last week. His southern manner almost disarmed me before I got started.

Q. Tell me about yourself?

A. Well, you know what happened to my great grandpa. (Indeed, Hank Williams died in the backseat of his limo after finishing up a show in my hometown of Charleston, W. Va). They had a hard time finding a doctor in the middle of the night and he passed before one could be summoned.

Q. From what I’ve heard and read about you, you don’t like anybody telling you what and when to do anything.

A. No sir, I don’t. Just like doing my own thing.

Q. How, if at all, do you see your music differently in a modern concept from that of your predecessors?

A. I just always wanted to make my own sounds. My father and grandfathers did the same thing. It just happened at another time. There’s nothing really that different, only the sounds I wanted to make. I think everybody has their own journey in making music. It is nothing intentional. It is just doing it my own way, showing that I have respect for them and what they have accomplished. They had their way, They left a mark and I will leave mine.

Q. I think you don’t think highly of imitators. You don’t want to be anybody except yourself.

A. Yes sir. I agree with you on that. You should just go out and show people what you have to offer and leave the rest to your audience. We’ve played over 150 shows since July of last year. I’ve enjoyed working all over the country, doing something that I like; playing with and meeting new people and expressing myself. I care about my music and the music of others. Getting to work with Shooter Jennings, Waylon Jennings’ son, and having him produce my record.

Q. How did you happen to hook up with him?

A. He reached out to us. He heard my single, “So Sad.” My father knew him when they were both younger. I’d never met him before. He reached out to me independently. I played a show in West Virginia last year and he flew in to hear us. He hung out with us and within six months after that; he signed us to a recording contract. It was an all-buddy event. The record deal included, in addition to me, my pals” Jason Dietes, David Talley, Daniel Mason, Carson Kehrer, John Judkin and Laura Beth Jewell. Shooter liked the results and we’ll be back for another album next year. I like to keep close with my friends.

Q. Touring must be tough.

A. It is, yeah, it is a hard life, but I enjoy it. I am always meeting other people, learning and honing my skills. There are some bad ones out there but they are easy to ignore—the good times far outnumber the bad. I’m not a teenager anymore. I’m in my thirties. It’s not all about me. My favorite part of touring is all the great people you encounter. The other band we’re touring with is from Massachusetts and we’ve bonded like old friends. It is not about the money. I work hard but the rewards are beyond anything I’ve ever dreamed of. In my earlier life, I was a student. I took time getting to where I am. I always remembered where I came from. My father guided me in the right direction.

Q. How do you feel about your position in the world of music today?

A. It makes me feel good that I make a living doing what I love. Man, what could be better than that!

Q. How do you feel about those who came before you?

A. I have great reverence for my family, my father and my grandfathers. It is a pure pleasure to know that when you go to bed at night that you did a good job, got paid a decent wage knowing that what you think of yourself means more than what others think of you. Knowing that they listened is everything.,

After our interview, I dug around for information about this young man. He doesn’t mind being “different.” “What doesn’t kill you makes you stranger. I love strangeness and I love my strange band. The most genuine people in the world are those who allow themselves to be the weirdos they truly are, because once you repress yourself, that’s when you become someone you’re not.”

Hank IV knows who he is and I think he will one day be referred to in the same hallowed tones as were his ancestors. Just sayin’

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post THEY CALL HIM HANK IV appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

Four years ago, Jeff Hewitt startled the political world when he upset Russ Bogh to win the office of Supervisor in Riverside County’s Fifth District. He won as a Libertarian at a time when Libertarians were “also-rans.”

This time he has a variety of competitors from more established parties. However, he has a record of running on and a solid agenda if re-elected. I recently sat down with him over a beverage at Denny’s in Hemet and discussed his future:

Q: What’s different this time around?

A: To begin with, it is a realigned district.

Q: How so?

A: It has six cities in it; four from the old and an additional two in the new. Three Pass Cities – Banning, Beaumont and Calimesa plus Moreno Valley. Perris and Menifee have been replaced by Hemet and San Jacinto.

Q: After four years in office, what do you think you’ve accomplished?

A: Obviously, I’ve brought a different outlook into the district as one of the highest-ranked Libertarians in the history of our party. I came in with my number one agenda to solve CALPERS unfunded and unsustainable pension disasters. Riverside County has the largest employment of CALPERS employees, only after the state. The three larger counties have their own plans.

We have a 3.6 billion dollar unfunded liability. It was going to be my idea to help resolve something that most politicians have been kicking down the road so that future generations have been kicking down the road so that future generations would have to pay for the sins of their fathers.

Q: If you are re-elected, what do you think you can do to rectify that?

A: Had it not been for COVID I think I would have rectified quite a bit of it. With a second term, these public employee unions understand that I am the one person who wants to make sure that they get what they may have been promised . We can’t continue going on hiring new employees with this same unsustainable person plan now in place.

Q: I’m sure you are aware of the homeless situation here in the Valley.

A: I am. Every homeless person has a different issue. There are categories. Some are criminals who choose to be homeless. Many self-medicate and have serious health issues. They use controlled substances. And then, there are those who are just down on their luck who can’t find anywhere to live even when they have jobs. Their pay isn’t adequate to pay for housing in today’s economic situation. What I, as a County Supervisor can do is try to make sure we back up programs that work. Involve the non-profits who are willing to help out in finding a place for them to live until they manage to escape their situation. If we address these specific problems of homelessness for what it is, I think we will get a lot more traction.

Q: Only 17% of the workforce in Hemet actually works in the Valley. There is a lack of incentive for new businesses to move here, so our citizens also shop where they work. What can you do to try and eliminate that situation?

A: Right now, this Valley is a cul de sac. You don’t open up a new business in a residential cul de sac. The Mid Valley Parkway and realignment of Highway 79 should open us up to more access from the outside, making it easy to come and go from and to the outside world. If I am re-elected, it will happen.

Q: What else can you as Supervisor do to promote small businesses coming into the Valley?

A: I’ve been a small businessman all my life. I understand the challenges. As you know, when COVID fell upon us, just about all progress stopped. However, I have no intention of meddling in the sovereignty of two cities. In the County areas, I can do a lot by showing innovations in the sense that Riverside County is the first of the 58 counties of California, that came up with a home cooking program where, if someone wants to cook and sell hot meals out of their home, they can do that with our program where environmental health does a small investigation to make sure the environment and location is safe and all. I can work with our friends at City Council and say, “Hey, look, anyway I can help you that involves the County, I am there for you.” To make it more affordable and easier for people to become entrepreneurs to create jobs for people who can hire five or ten employees or more. That’s the way to recruit business. You will then see that 17% of the people that work here begin rising to 20 and 25% and even more.

Q: I am told by authorities who know that sex trafficking is rampant in the Valley.

A: The Coyotes have turned it into slavery with blind promises and threats. Then, we have runaway teens who are sucked into the system because of the money involved. We have a District Attorney, Mike Hestrin, who is very aggressive about that. He isn’t perfect, but he comes out and goes after these guys who operate that kind of business. He was also one of the first DA’s to charge drug dealers who traffic in Fentnal and other pills, with full knowledge that they could be fatal to some young kid. He is charging them with murder when that happens. Sheriff Bianco also comes down hard on sex trafficking and drug dealers. The Board of Supervisors controls the purse strings of both the DA and the Sheriff. We need to give them all the tools they need. We may not eradicate it but we can control it.

Q: Do you think rent controls would provide more fair housing?

A: Absolutely not! Rent controls make for less housing. That is the worst misconception that there ever was. The California Environmental Quality Act has been very abused and misused. We need to reform that. What we need is more housing with less stringent restrictions on developers. Why do developer fees in Riverside County average from $85 to $100 thousand dollars before anything comes in? That is ridiculous and only strangles attempts to build more houses. There are new technologies and innovations and we need to adapt them. We can do container houses and mini houses. People need a place to go.

Q: What kind of incentives should the government be giving to developers?

A: They don’t need incentives. The government should roll back some of the ridiculous strings we’ve tied them up with. It takes so long to entitle a project. When you have a politically favored project like a stadium that the Governor wants, for instance, it by-passes SEQUA. It is a travesty. When government gets out of the way we get some real progress.

Q: Any other ideas you would like to see come to fruition?

A: We are the most incarcerating people in the world, with so many people in prison for non-violent drug crimes. They come out stigmatized unfairly. We have some programs where the government will pay employers to hire this person out of prison for up to six months or a year. The former inmate knows they are only getting hired because the government is paying the employer to hire him or them. We need a program that really helps. When you get a good employee, hire them. Tell them you like their work and you’re not going to take the Government money anymore. You’re going to put him on your payroll. DIGNITY! DIGNITY! DIGNITY! They’ve paid their debt to society. Don’t stigmatize them for life. I’ve hired prison people over a lot of years. Some of them turned out to be the best I ever had. There will be a few bad seeds, but the good far outweighs the bad. We need to give these people a chance.

Jeff Hewitt struck me as a man who cares about people. He offered up solutions I’ve not heard before. Whether they work or not, I don’t know. I just know he comes off as a sincere human being. Is this a stepping stone toward higher office? Of course, it will all come out in the wash. Just sayin’

rustystrait@gmail.com

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post CAN LIBERTARIAN JEFF HEWITT DO IT AGAIN? appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

Deni Antionette Manzingo never gives up. This is her third try. She is a Democratic candidate, this time for the newly realigned Riverside County’s 5th Supervisory District. She is not alone in the position, and three others are in the race with her.

Recently I sat down with her for an interview and here are the results:

Q: What are you running for this time, Deni?

A: I am running for Supervisor of the Newly re-formed Riverside County 5th Supervisor District. I previously worked for Chuck Washington, the current Third District Supervisor. Jeff Hewett, the current 5th District Supervisor, a Libertarian, who surprised everybody four years ago when he won an upset victory, is one of my opponents.

Rusty, you know how I feel about this valley. We get no representation. We have homelessness on our streets – seniors, women, single-parent families, and kids. Twenty percent of the students at Mt. San Jacinto Community College are living in cars on the streets. Veterans are homeless on our streets.

Q: Having said that, what is your plan to make corrections? What can you do, if anything?

A: What I’ve always done – fight to make changes. For ten years, I’ve been the one who is out there trying to make changes. However, real change comes from our elected officials who are willing to team up with businesses and organizations to make those changes. Housing is crucial. There used to be a time when people came here because housing was affordable. Instead of building warehouses to store goods imported from another country, I would like to see us bring American businesses to the community and hire our own people to work in them.

Q: How would you plan to do that?

A: The communities in the district need to reach out and partner with the Supervisors to let them know what is needed and where the resources are to make it happen. I will reach across the aisle and go to the different communities that have successfully found out what they have done so that we can implement the same type of programs.

Q: That’s a big job.

A: I would appoint a five-member civilian committee from the community to meet on a regular basis to discuss the issues and let them help me decide where the need is and go about securing the resources. It would be voluntary. We have resources set aside in Sacramento for affordable housing. I will fight to get those resources. We can’t expect others to take care of us. Every other community has the same issues we do and they are out to take care of their own.

Q: As a County Supervisor, how do you feel about Hemet annexing a big chunk of the County area in Southeast Hemet?

A: I’ve spoken to many of the residents in that area. They don’t want it. They aren’t interested in dealing with Hemet politics. I would respect their wishes, not those of the Hemet City Council.

Q: How about the merger of Hemet, San Jacinto and the County into one city?

A: I’m for it. It is ridiculous to have three separate governments in the valley and also a waste of money.

Q: Would you endorse universal health care?

A: Absolutely. It works in other countries. Preventative medical care should be available to everyone. It would cut down on work vacancies because of illnesses that could have been prevented if caught ahead of time. Save money that could be spent on essential needs. Care is always there for the rich because they can afford it. Preventative health care should be the law of the land, not just local. It shouldn’t matter if you are a legal or undocumented resident. It doesn’t matter who you are.

Q: Riverside County and Southern California are concerned about the Southern Borders. Do you have a take on that?

A: I certainly do. People aren’t just coming here to be coming. They are looking for the American dream for their families, fleeing oppressive governments and drug cartels. We represent freedom and opportunity. Who wouldn’t want that? Why should we deny them? Immigrants and outcasts founded this country. Our founding fathers were misfits who came here and created what we have. Why should we deny it today? Funny how the right-wing politicians rant and rave about the Southern Border but never mention our Northern Border. Remember, those people responsible for 911 walked across from Canada. Republican President Ronald Reagan gave amnesty to more than eleven million so-called illegals. Have the Republicans forgotten that? He wouldn’t recognize his own party today.

Q: Your opponents obviously have more campaign funds than you. How do you counter that?

A: I’m going door to door on the foot patrol to bring my message to people in person. I want to meet the constituency and let them see me in person, not just on some kind of flyer. I want the voters to know who I am and what I plan to do if elected. To listen first hand to their concerns.

Whatever can be said pro or con about Deni, she is dedicated to her cause. She doesn’t have a lot of money but she has endorsements from clubs and organizations. The grassroots organizations that really get behind a candidate. It is impossible to tell how a four-candidate race will go, but if energy and dedication mean anything, Deni Antionette Manzingo is going to be in the pack. Just sayin’

rustystrait@gmail.com

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post DENI MAKES ANOTHER RUN FOR OFFICE appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

They call him Wild the Coyote – he’s a singer and songwriter headed toward the top. Currently residing in West Hollywood, he reverses that old adage of “go west young man,” He will soon be aiming his arrows East. He will appear at Hemet’s Derby’s Bar and Grille for a one-night stand on Friday, February 4th. It is easy to tell where he’s going, but how did he get where he is now? I recently enjoyed an interview with him.

Q. Where were you born?

A. California’s Center coast – a town called Pink rock.

Q. How did you get into music?

A. Actually, I started out with a punk rock band in 2007 and remained with them until 2013. From the very beginning, I wrote my own songs.

Q. I understand that two of your songs were featured on the popular television series, Yellowstone. How did that come about?

A. That happened in a strange way, borne out of an evening when I was approached by a guy a bit tipsy that I met while in Salt Lake City on tour in 2018. He heard me sing and later came up to me and said, “I’d like to use your song in a new television series I’m putting together.” I’m thinking, yeah, right. Just some drunk showing off. Not so. Turned out he was one of the creators of the popular television series starring Kevin Costner. He actually did want my music and I was brought in to sing my songs, “Reaper” and “Old Man.”

The same guy brought him in to sing his music in the new television series, “The Mayor of Kingstown.

He has a new album, “7 Roses” in release soon. In February, he will be traveling to Nashville to begin writing and recording more music.

From Yellowstone to Hemet to Nashville – This guy is on the express train to super-stardom in his field.

His appearance at the Derby has limited non-reservation, general admission and seating – first come first served. Looks like a good crowd, so come early.

You can bet your boots that I’ll be there. Just sayin’

Where: Derby’s Bar and Grille

2860 W. Florida Avenue, Hemet CA 92545

When: Friday, February 4th, 2022

Time: 8:00 PM

rustystrait@gmail.com

For further information, dial (951)652-2440

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post FROM YELLOWSTONE TO HEMET appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

Be a star. Be a full-time rock star. You’re here”.

He recently signed on with Yelawolf, one of the top hip-hop artists in the world. He will soon be leaving on a world tour for the first time.

He was just a kid, abandoned by his father, had a doting mother and grandmother and a step-father that wasn’t exactly on the same page with him. His siblings looked up to him because he was the oldest and their guiding example. He goes by the name of Devin Hype. He is a native of Hemet.

Why is he worth a feature story? Because he earned it the hard way.

He more or less grew up around the Wheelhouse Skating Rink in Hemet, became interested in being a D.J. and while still in high school, his ambition was to someday become a star. Most of his contemporaries and almost all adults in his life were constantly telling him to “get a job.” After high school, he got jobs here and there but continuously strived to become more efficient in pursuing a life’s ambition of becoming not just a local D.J., but a big name, traveling and touring the country with thousands of fans.

Jesse Vivanco, owner of The Wheelhouse, grew from a skating rink into a double business, adding a bar and grill which became TWH Bar and later Derby’s Bar and Grill. He hired Devin to D.J. for many dance and other events that required a D.J. Over a period of several years, Devin would come into the bar every day, sit down at the console and strive to perfect his craft. He became very adept at what is known as ‘Scratching.’ Eventually, he would start D.J.ing at other local events and then he spread his wings a bit further and began getting work in surrounding cities and a few gigs out of state. His detractors continued to laugh behind his back, but he kept at it. I had the privilege of securing an exclusive interview with him yesterday because I learned that he was about to become the star he always wanted to be. So here is his story in Q&A fashion:

Q. I understand you are about to be going on tour soon with a major star. Tell me about it.

A. I had been doing some spot touring and after 2015, I hooked up with a guy known as LIGHTER SHADE OF BROWN, and from then came COVID, which silenced all live events and I found myself out of work. I had to do something to exist. I was forced to sit down and evaluate myself as an artist and personality. Nobody knew or anticipated the toll this new virus would take on the live entertainment industry. My big opportunity came with I hooked up with Yelawolf, a major hip-hop artist.

Q. Before we get ahead of your story, let’s backtrack to the beginning. Where did it all start from your viewpoint?

A. OK. I guess I have accomplished things that nobody expected of me.

Q. Skeptic that I am, even I am excited about what’s coming up.

A. We all are. After suffering years of struggle, always being low on the totem pole, always being treated as though I would never prosper, that maybe I should just do it as a hobby and not get out of the box. For me to be the only one in my industry locally, that was actually moving into something higher. I’m extremely grateful for that. I’m humbled. I’m like, this is amazing. This is me. Not somebody else. One can talk about all the things he is going to do, talk forever, but when you actually do it, you surprise even yourself. It’s crazy. I think about it all the time. Yeah, it actually worked. It is all about patience and persistence, never giving up. Getting this close to the diamond. You can easily give up because you’re tired of digging.

Q. Did you sometimes think maybe they were all right and you ought to give it up?

A. OK. I never stopped believing in myself. Of course, just like anyone else, I had those moments, those days, those weeks when doubt jumped up at me. You know, something isn’t working, and you have to try something else. You did something and it turned out to be not what it was made out to be. That’s just a part of it. Of course, I made mistakes on the way to where I am now.

Q. Getting smarter every day?

A. That’s the most important thing.

Q. Learning from your mistakes?

A. Absolutely. That’s always going to be the truth. I should tattoo that on my chest. When I was touring with A LIGHTER SHADE OF BROWN consistently up until COVID hit hard. They left me hanging. I couldn’t travel, couldn’t do live performing. My career came to a standstill. I had to make up my mind. What did I want to do? I decided then that it actually gave me the opportunity to change directions. I wasn’t really happy with what I was doing. I had basically been doing the same thing for five years. I was in a rut. When you work with a group or artist who is doing this for a novelty feat, being young, I wanted to do current things. I wanted to make a name for myself. With that group, there was no prospect of going forward. It was like doing exercises in a standstill manner. I had no prospect of going forward. I’ll admit, I gained a tremendous amount of experience from touring with them but it was time for me to move on. I was being hung out to dry and didn’t know when, if ever, I would be able to pursue my career. So I took a chance and restyled myself. I knew I was not alone and there would be plenty of competition when the virus subsided and artists performed live again. There were no guarantees for me and I knew it. I took the risk and worked hard to become what I needed to become and here I am.

Q. You found yourself surrounded by thousands on the same sinking ship, all trying to survive.

A. Exactly. It was the darkest place of my life. I first ended up DJing in a local Mexican Restaurant five days a week and making survival money for a while.

Q. Then your life took a very unexpected turn.

A. Boy, did it. I fell in love with a beautiful girl with three beautiful young daughters. No matter what I did, I knew where my heart and soul would be from now on. Before long, she was pregnant with my son. Having your own son, your own flesh and blood that belongs to you is like being struck by lightning.

Q. Along with that came 18 years of certain responsibility.

A. Amen to that. He came along just as things began to open up for live performances. For some time, I had been studying the work of a Hip Hop Artist known as Yelawolf. A major artist who had worked with EMINEM. Being a father changed my whole perspective but not my ultimate goals. Aware that no matter my future from here on, I will be traveling a lot and away from family. I’d also have to learn to deal with that aspect. Now that I’m a dad, I have responsibilities. My life is different. The way I treat everything is different. My characteristics are different. I look in the mirror. Kids. Kids are a pain. A lovable pain. Now I understand what a pain I must have been to my mother. I look at myself and say, “Wow. I’m in charge, being both parent and step-parent. But I love them all.

Q. A rude awakening?

A. All of this happened within a year’s time. I put a lot of thought into what I would do when I took on these responsibilities. But having my own family has brought a peace and sense of person that I never had or even knew existed before. I love this girl and I love all four of the kids. Those little girls are precious gifts that I never expected. I know that they love me, too. I was a step-child and I certainly learned from that what not to do as a step-parent. Believe me, I will never make the mistakes that were made with me, and I will never be what my father wasn’t. I’m stubborn and have always been stubborn. There’s no time frame. People think that things happen in the moment. Some folks come at me now and say, “Oh, you’re so lucky.” Luck is not what I got. I have no luck. I have sweat, tears, hard work and dedication. It is easy to call it luck. They find it hard to say that I deserve everything. I put in the work. I often sat in an empty room with nobody but myself.

Q. You have always been loved by those who know you.

A. That also helps change things. Knowing that you are loved within your circle. Your friends become family.

Folks if there ever was a story of becoming successful because you waded through the fires and storms of life, this is it. Keep it up and keep your head high Devin. Just sayin’ rustystrait@gmail.com

Rusty Strait | Senior Reporter

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post OUT OF THE RABBLE RISES A STAR appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

In an era where the news and social media cycles are spinning faster than ever, it’s very tempting for the public to constantly search for new information, said University of Washington professor Carl Bergstrom, an infectious disease biologist who tracks the spread of misinformation.

But, trusting social media, online rumors, news reports and even official channels without carefully considering the evidence behind their claims can lead to confusion and misinformation— something he’s seen proliferate as coronavirus cases grow.

“We’ve evolved to seek information for situations we consider dangerous,” said Bergstrom, whose book on misinformation — “Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World” — comes out this summer. “But, by trying to get fresher information, you’re degrading the quality.”

Misinformation can even come from reputable sources. And the confusion and uncertainty that follows could hinder attempts to slow the outbreak’s spread, he said. I recently chatted with Bergstrom about the types of coronavirus misinformation he’s tracking, the potential impact on the spread of the virus, and how journalists and the public can better sift through contradictory claims.

Q: With your background in infectious disease and your study of misinformation, this seems like the perfect confluence of topics for you.

A: It’s appropriate in that way. I wrote my Ph.D. on signaling and deception in animals. A decade later, I started working on infectious disease. Then, I started working on information networks. It feels like it’s all been leading up to this. When all of this started happening, I thought I could contribute the most by trying to understand the way information is flowing around the coronavirus: the way reliable agencies are handling risk communications, the way disinformation is being injected and the way misinformation is getting passed along by well-meaning people.

Q: What kind of disinformation and misinformation have you noticed with COVID-19?

A: This was on my radar before the first of the year. The earliest record I can find in my email is dated December 30. This was an alert from ProMED Mail about an undiagnosed pneumonia cluster. It caught my attention because this is the sort of early indicator we might see of a novel flu strain.

By the time these illnesses were linked to a coronavirus in early January, I was paying close attention. Initially, there was a little conspiracy talk, but not a lot. As things heated up in Hubei, we saw both reasonable reporting but also disinformation being pushed on the internet, largely through social media. Early on, you clearly had opponents of the current regime in China pushing various information, some of which didn’t turn out to be wrong (the idea that the virus is a big deal). There were also stories of escaped bioweapons, and people being shot, which were untrue. At the same time, you had some snake oil salesman types: This is going to be a mass pandemic and you should buy my health tonic now. Other story lines: There’s a huge cover up going on in China and the U.S. is playing along, or there’s nothing going on in China but the multinational pharmaceutical companies are trying to scare you. There was a non-peer reviewed paper promoting a bioweapons rumor, suggesting the virus included elements of HIV. Within 48 hours, the paper was retracted.

Here in Washington state, there have been a lot of little pieces of misinformation. When the first U.S. death occurred in the greater Seattle area, there were a lot of questions: Who was this person? There were four separate stories: a 50-year-old man, a 50-year-old woman, a 30-something man, and a 19-year-old man. Those narratives spread on social media.

Q: What do all these instances of misinformation on coronavirus and rumors teach us in aggregate about the nature of misinformation and its spread?

A: It may be a bit early to say we’ve learned a lot of new lessons from this situation, but it certainly has reinforced our previous understanding of the dynamics of misinformation and disinformation.

For example, we see misinformation moving in to fill an uncertainty vacuum. So much is unknown about this virus and how the epidemic will play out. Where reputable sources are unable to provide definitive answers, non-reputable ones fill the gap with rumors. Rumors take off wildly, but corrections rarely spread nearly as well. We see that political polarization where the truth or falsehood of a claim is judged more by who made it than by the evidence in its support.

Q: What drives the spread of false information?

A: Disinformation is deliberate; misinformation doesn’t have underlying intent. A lot of this might be misinformation. We know there’s a death, but health officials haven’t been able to give us more details, so people try to fill them in.

I think most people are relatively well intentioned. The media is looking for people to talk to and give decisive answers and make strong predictions. If you’re willing to get up there and say definitive things, that explodes across social media. You get invited to talk on CNN. If you ask any reputable public health epidemiologist, “How many people is this going to kill?” they’ll say, “I have absolutely no idea.” That scientific uncertainty is unsatisfying. When you have people willing to forgo that caution – who are willing to say exactly 3.8% of those infected – those people are particularly attractive to put on TV or social media posts.

What’s been really striking for me over the past couple weeks has been watching the bungled risk communications coming out of U.S. government. A couple of weeks ago, you have the executive branch promoting the idea that there is “absolutely no problem” while you had people high up in the CDC saying this is a serious concern and it’s likely to disrupt schools, work, travel. You have multiple contradictory messages coming out, which is extremely damaging.

Then you get people like Elon Musk saying the panic around the coronavirus is dumb. People take that seriously. We see this increasing trend toward what people describe as tribal epistemology, where people believe information that comes from people with whom they’re aligned.

Q: What is the impact of contradictory information on the spread of the disease?

A: As you’re getting hit with all of this stuff on all ends of the spectrum, you’re thinking: “I can’t trust anyone. I can’t believe anyone.”

In a case like this, where there are no vaccines or effective antivirals yet, your real strength in combating the spread are things like hand washing, social distancing, targeted closing of schools, cancelling events, and restrictions on travel. But if people don’t trust the authorities who are trying to implement these steps, it undermines these efforts.

It’s critical that people recognize the seriousness of what we’re facing as a country and we don’t fall prey to false assurances such as, “It’s all going to go away in April when it warms up,” or “It’s no worse than seasonal flu.” If people believe it’s all a hoax or no worse than the flu, that discourages them from taking the steps we need to be taking as a community to shape the trajectory of the epidemic.

If this explodes, it’s a pretty serious disease for a non-trivial fraction of the people who get it. Imagine one in five people needing critical care. You’re going to quickly overwhelm the health system.

Q: Given all this misinformation, what can people do?

A: The main thing people can do is to identify trusted sources and stick to them. For me, there are a handful of public health professionals and health reporters like STAT’s Helen Branswell who have a reputation for great integrity and good judgement. If you hear some rumor that sounds dramatic, withhold judgment until you hear from someone you trust. You could do well by turning to fact-based media sources. I’m going to trust the Washington Post, but I’m not going to trust Russia Today.

Q: What role do journalists have in weeding out the misinformation? And how might they handle what they perceive as misinformation from official sources?

A: I would like to see journalists be a little harder hitting about this. I’d like to see someone say, “Trump says there are only 15 cases,” followed by, “Experts estimate 1,000 to 10,000 cases are currently circulating.” I’d like to see media be more aggressive about calling out falsehoods. We’ve got leadership determined to manage this as a public relations crisis versus a public health crisis. In a public relations crisis, you want to centralize and control communications and be careful about what info gets out.

Q: Do you think the coronavirus is being overhyped?

A: I think it’s a very serious situation. I have seen claims that make it sound worse than it is. I’ve seen a lot more claims saying it’s less severe than it is. The media and the state and local health authorities are starting to get things better calibrated in terms of the severity. It makes a huge difference if social distancing is enough to start to reduce the spread of the epidemic or whether it takes more draconian measures, as China did in Wuhan.

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

Search: When misinformation spreads

The post Q&A: When misinformation spreads faster than the virus itself, trusted sources are key appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.