Omicron wave prompts media to rethink which data to report

By DAVID BAUDER
AP Media Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The COVID-19 surge caused by the omicron variant means once-reliable indicators of the pandemic’s progress are much less so, complicating how the media is able to tell the story. The Associated Press is telling its journalists not to rely too much on skyrocketing case counts because the numbers themselves don’t reflect the full picture, and other organizations are similarly deemphasizing this statistic. There’s no perfect alternative, however, and experts say case counts can still offer some valuable indictors of where the story is going. One thing is evident: the story has changed so much in two years it’s important for reporters to stay humble.