The CDC Isn’t Publishing Large Portions of the Covid Data It Collects | Hacker News Reader

The CDC Isn’t Publishing Large Portions of the Covid Data It Collects

nytimes.com

60 pointskoolba8 comments

Kristen Nordlund, a spokeswoman for the C.D.C., said the agency has been slow to release the different streams of data “because basically, at the end of the day, it’s not yet ready for prime time.” She said the agency’s “priority when gathering any data is to ensure that it’s accurate and actionable.”

Another reason is fear that the information might be misinterpreted, Ms. Nordlund said.

Releasing some and withholding other data is called biasing. How can they expect people to trust them, when they admit to cherry-picking which data to show? I can understand their fear of misinterpretation, but by now they should have realized losing trust is much worse.

To be fair, if you want to be flip flopped around, you can simply open the front-page of Nature.com, you don't need the CDC to waste your money paying someone to press Retweet.

In other words, "fear that the information might be interpreted in a way that doesn't fit our agenda."

I think thats the _only_ way to interpret that phrasing.

It isn’t, though. That’s a dishonest argument. There are myriad cases of the media (incl. NYT) or the general public misinterpreting findings, usually by way of generalisation or misattributed cause. I empathise with any specialist with this much public attention on them, because everywhere you turn there’s a bone-headed journalist willing to either by way of malice or ignorance misrepresent your findings.

I’m not a US resident and have the privilege of being able to care very little about what US government agencies have to say, so I don’t really care in the end, but at least be honest with yourself.

Data is just data and should be open to inspection. Why wouldn't they release the data with their own interpretation and caveats? My guess is the data is too conclusive to misinterpret, and it doesn't say what they want it to.

If your solution to an uninformed and uneducated populous is holding back the information, we will NEVER agree.

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