https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-new-york-times-downplays-promising-covid-19-development/?utm_source=recirc-desktop&utm_medium=homepage&utm_campaign=right-rail&utm_content=corner&utm_term=third
In an article published on Thursday and updated on Friday, New York Times reporters downplayed the possibility of using hydroxycholoroquine (HCQ), an anti-malaria drug, to treat COVID-19.
“With Minimal Evidence, Trump Asks F.D.A. to Study Malaria Drugs for Coronavirus,” the headline reads. And the subtitle: “The use of the existing drugs against the new virus is unproven, and some shortages have already been reported.”
The article went on to claim that the president had “exaggerated the potential of drugs available to treat the new coronavirus, including an experimental antiviral treatment and decades-old malaria remedies that hint of promise but so far show limited evidence of healing the sick.”
Another Times article on the topic bore the headline “Trump’s Embrace of Unproven Drugs to Treat Coronavirus Defies Science.”
No one should suggest, based on the available evidence, that HCQ is some sort of silver bullet that will cure COVID-19 and get us out of this global crisis. But neither should reporters cover a possible positive development from the angle of how best they can disparage the president. And Trump’s comments about the drug, though perhaps more optimistic than warranted, were not unreasonable.