Plus: CEOs signal openness to business with China; the TikTok-fueled drive to buy Spirit Airlines.
As concerns about a deadly hantavirus outbreak that began on a Dutch cruise ship continue to grow, government officials are doing their best to prevent the public from panicking.
“We have this under control, and we’re not worried about it,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told reporters during a press conference in the Oval Office earlier this week.
A page on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website notes “the risk of a pandemic caused by this outbreak and the overall risk to the American public and travelers remains extremely low.” It states all American passengers aboard the affected cruise ship, the MV Hondius, have returned to the U.S. and that, at present, no cases of the Andes virus — the particular hantavirus strain behind the recent outbreak — have been confirmed in the United States.
During interviews with the press, Jay Bhattacharya, who is serving as both the acting head of the CDC and director of the National Institutes of Health, tried to head off concerns about a new pandemic.
“It’s very different than COVID, and we should treat it differently than COVID,” Bhattacharya said during one media appearance. “Unlike COVID, the way that people get it from person to person is much, much more difficult for that to happen,” he added.
During another interview, Bhattacharya put it this way: “For folks that are listening, I hope they can understand this is not anywhere near the kind of situation we were in in 2020. It’s not going to spread the kind of way that COVID did, just given the biology of it.”
Critics worry officials are downplaying the risks by conveying too much certainty about how the virus might behave.
“It’s important to be honest scientifically and communicate that, because otherwise you lose credibility,” Steven Bradfute, a viral immunologist and hantavirus expert at the University of New Mexico, told The New York Times.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has expressed caution, noting the situation is far from over.
“At the moment, there is no sign that we are seeing the start of a larger outbreak, but of course the situation could change and, given the long incubation period of the virus, it’s possible we might see more cases in the coming weeks,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, said during a recent press conference in Spain.
Why it matters: Confidence is a good trait for leaders to possess, but too much of it can be reckless.
The U.S. public clearly wants to know more about hantavirus. A quick glance at Google Trends shows interest in the word going from virtually nothing over the past 20 years to extremely high over the past month.
Saying there’s nothing to worry about is a bet that can backfire if, suddenly, there is. How officials frame the situation now has consequences for the future.
At the same time, communicating scientific uncertainty is a fine art — especially when it comes to describing what’s known and not known.
As the WHO’s Ghebreyesus told The New York Times, there’s nuance between what’s possible and what’s probable.
“It’s very difficult to explain to people saying, ‘OK, this is the exception, this is the norm,’” Ghebreyesus said. “When you say the exception, they might still think that that’s something frequently happening as well.”
It’s also impossible to ignore that the public has just lived through a pandemic. While no one wants to encourage panic, many are likely open to more proactive, cautious messaging to help avoid having to live through another one just a few years later.
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- President Donald Trump went to China to discuss AI, Iran, trade and other matters with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Accompanying Trump were a slew of U.S. chief executives, including Apple’s Tim Cook, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and Tesla’s Elon Musk. As one might expect, this was a major PR opportunity. On LinkedIn, for instance, Dina Powell McCormick, president of Meta, noted “It was a privilege to join the State banquet in Beijing tonight in honor of President Trump and the U.S. delegation during this historic bilateral summit,” alongside photos of her and other delegates. She expressed a similar sentiment on X: “Proud to represent @Meta and American technology leadership!” It was also a chance to show a desire to do more business in the country. Back on LinkedIn, Larry Culp, CEO of GE Aerospace, said he was “honored” to be part of the delegation, before adding, “This week was a good reminder that commercial aviation is at its best when it connects people, economies, and capabilities. GE Aerospace is committed to doing its part to support customers in the United States and China and to serve an industry that benefits the world.” While executives likely made similar remarks behind closed doors, repeating them publicly can score extra points with their target audience.
- Hunter Peterson, a 32-year-old voice actor and content creator, had an idea. That idea? Convince the public to hand over a few dollars to buy the now-defunct Spirit Airlines and make it an airline for the people. As wild as it may sound, the idea is catching on. Peterson set up a website and has apparently collected $337 million in non-binding pledges from more than 370,000 individual contributors. Whether the plan works or not — purchasing a bankrupt airline is complicated — there’s no doubt Peterson has captured people’s imagination. His quixotic campaign is authentic, messy and episodic. People are cheering him on as his website crashes. Part of the fun is that viewers feel part of the underdog story, since, if it all comes to fruition, they too might be future shareholders of Spirit Airlines. It has all the electricity brands want to possess.
- Netflix launched The Netflix Effect, a website that details the streamer’s impact on jobs, culture and the economy. It includes statistics, such as the claim it’s contributed more than $325 billion to the global economy over the past decade, and at least one quote from French President Emmanuel Macron, who noted Netflix’s “Emily in Paris” has inspired millions of people to visit the country. “Netflix shows and movies have consistently shaped what people read, buy, listen to, eat, wear and play,” Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s co-CEO, said in a statement. “We’ve pushed old songs back up the musical charts, helped niche sports go mainstream, and boosted sales of everything from chess sets, to Halloween costumes, to home storage.” While no one doubts Netflix’s influence on society, the intended audience for the new site is less obvious. It’ll generate some initial press coverage, and some journalists may revisit it now and then to gather data, but then what? Building a flashy, interactive site that essentially serves as an amplified press release boasting about the company’s success is a choice that some consumers may find off-putting. Usually, it’s better to let others sing your praises than create a URL devoted to praising yourself.
Paul Hiebert is a reporter for PR Daily and Ragan Communications. Follow him on LinkedIn.
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