L.A. Times journalist Deborah Netburn has been answering questions about the coronavirus for months, from what it means for pet owners to how to explain it to kids. But for the first time, she has added a caveat to her coverage: “One thing to keep in mind before we continue,” she wrote in her latest piece explaining why some people are dying from COVID-19 and others don’t experience symptoms. “It is possible that the information you read below will be contradicted in the coming weeks or that gaps in knowledge today will soon be filled as scientists continue to study the virus.” We asked Netburn, a science and features reporter, how the caveat came to be, what challenges she’s facing, and what she’s learning about explanatory journalism.
How did the caveat come about?
The caveat was inspired directly by something Dr. Edward Jones-Lopez of USC said to me early in our conversation. I asked him the very basic question — how does the virus make you sick — and about four words into his answer, he interrupted himself to say:
“I should start by saying the knowledge about the virus and the disease is changing almost by the hour. There is an explosion of information about this, and what I say right now may not be true tomorrow or some of the gaps I may refer to will no longer [be] gaps in a short period of time.”
I wrote through the story and then added his caveat to the end of the introduction. I really wanted readers to understand that these guys are telling you what they know now, but this virus is so new to all of us, that even the experts are still learning about it.
Has it or will it be a regular feature of your stories and other LA Times stories about the coronavirus?
I remember Nancy Messonier of the CDC talking about the role of uncertainty in this pandemic in late February.
Here’s the quote: “I also want to acknowledge the importance of uncertainty. During the outbreak of a new virus, there is a lot of uncertainty. Our guidance and advice are likely to be interim and fluid, subject to change as we learn more. We will continue to keep you updated.”
I love that she was upfront about it and, early on, it taught me a very valuable if disturbing lesson: There are no true novel coronavirus experts in this world. There can’t be. It’s only been known about for four months.
I haven’t talked to my colleagues about whether they also plan to keep reminding our readers that information about the coronavirus is constantly evolving, but I definitely plan to do that. I really want readers to understand that when we hear from experts they can only tell us as much as they know, and they can’t know everything yet.
What are you finding most challenging about covering this pandemic?
I feel a lot of internal pressure to rise to the occasion, be amazing, tell the most important stories, and demonstrate my dedication to the LA Times and journalism.
At the same time, I’m sad and scared and filled with anxiety, not so much about my own health, but about the devastating toll this pandemic is taking on so many people. I feel like a truly great and dedicated reporter would want to do nothing but work right now, but if I’m totally honest, I sometimes wish I could spend my days staring out the window, watching mindless television, baking and hanging out with my kids.
Being pulled in these two directions is very hard.
You’ve been explaining the virus and its impact in different ways to readers. What are you learning (or re-learning) about explanatory journalism?
I believe there is a lot of value in having no shame about asking the most very basic questions. Like asking a virologist what a virus is or how it makes people sick. It can be hard on the ego to admit to an expert how much you don’t know, but I’ve never had a scientist get annoyed with me for asking about the fundamentals. Usually they are grateful that I’m not pretending to know more than I do.
How are you taking care of yourself?
The first week of sheltering in place was awful. My mind was on work all the time, from the moment I woke up to the minute I went to sleep and through the weekend.
That did not work for me, so the next week I made changes. Now I truly take weekends off, and I made myself a schedule for weekday mornings that includes reading a book (not about coronavirus), going on a short run, stretching and making coffee. Only when all those things are done do I open my computer and start working.
It has made a tremendous difference, but there are still a lot of hard days.