zlacker

>>datafl+(OP)
I think the media successfully conflated four separate questions:

a) Did it form in nature or in a lab?

b) Did it become more communicable via nature or via the lab?

c) Did it make it to humans through nature (or wet market) or via the lab?

d) If it came from the lab was it on purpose or an accident?

as simply "OMG IT CAME FROM A LAB" and then claimed it's all a conspiracy theory.

The media as a whole shot themselves in the foot on this one and we'll all be worse off for it.

>>caseys+3r1
The media can be expected to fuck up a science story, even a high profile one, because they do that as a matter of course, even for simple, basic technical stuff that would be obvious to a first year college student with the relevant major.

The true problem is those professional scientists who jumped on the "lol conspiratard" bandwagon and probably ended up carrying water for the CCP, albeit unwittingly. I'm talking about the government who cried "racism" when other countries started closing their borders to China — the first one to do that was of course Taiwan AKA Republic of China, who are by that token racist against Chinese people, I guess.