US updates virus policies based on most recent findings, says top expert

America's policies on handling the Covid-19 outbreak are constantly updated based on the most recent findings about the virus, said its top coronavirus expert Anthony Fauci.

Speaking during a webcast during World News Day celebrations yesterday morning (Monday in the United States), Dr Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, also emphasised that the media has a crucial role to play in spreading accurate information, but some do otherwise.

With a situation like Covid-19, "which clearly is evolving at a very rapid rate, you make a recommendation or a policy based on the information that you have at a particular time", he said. And as more information comes in, the authorities need to be "humble enough and flexible enough" to change some of the original policies.

"But some of the media who like to make hay of that, keep saying 'Oh you keep changing your mind all the time. Well, you were incorrect'. No, we were correct at the time that statement was made. But when the scientific data made it clear that we had to change that recommendation, we did," said Dr Fauci, citing the example of mask-wearing.

Dr Fauci also said that some media outlets "give opposing perspectives on what seems to be a pretty obvious fact or a body of data", citing American outlet Fox News as having good reporters but noting that "some of the things that they report there are outlandish, to be honest with you".

The session, which was moderated by CNN's chief media correspondent Brian Stelter, was part of the two-hour World News Day closing show organised by the Canadian Journalism Foundation and World Editors Forum.

The World News Day celebrations had begun earlier in Singapore with a webinar titled Covid-19: How Can You Contribute? that was live-streamed from The Straits Times newsroom.

Mr Stelter, who also hosted the closing webcast, said in his opening remarks: "When it feels like the answers have been in short supply, we have relied on journalists to chase the truth, we've relied on journalists to convey this truth through, and try to cut through the daily flurry of misinformation that surrounds us more than ever."

The two-hour programme included discussions on a variety of topics by panellists including journalists, newsmakers, protesters and professional athletes.

Mr Oscar Jimenez, a CNN correspondent based in Chicago, spoke about how he got arrested while reporting on live television about a protest in Minneapolis over the death of an unarmed black man in police custody.

National Geographic's senior environment editor Robert Kunzig and senior executive editor Indira Lakshmanan also had a chat about the ongoing climate crisis.

Google's vice-president of news Richard Gingras shared his view about the impact of local news, misinformation and the pressures that big tech firms face.

In the closing segment, Philippine news website Rappler co-founder Maria Ressa spoke with ABC7 News reporter Kris Reyes about the current state of press freedom.

Ms Ressa said that while social media started off very promisingly, it went south as authoritarian regimes were able to control people's behaviour based on the data collected, and by suppressing the spread of information by targeting journalists.

"By next year, I'd have been a journalist for 35 years. I've never been under attack as much as I have today, just for doing my job. It is worse than a war zone, it's worse than any conflict zone. And I guess that brings it home - that is the conflict zone, that is the war zone. The war is for facts," she said.