Barely a week after the media in Georgia—and much of the rest of the U.S.—ignored the fact that a Savannah-area seven-year-old boy who supposedly died “from the coronavirus” actually had a seizure and fell in the shower, the largest newspaper in Georgia—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC)—is again helping to perpetrate the false narrative that the Wuhan virus presents widespread danger for American children.
Early in the afternoon on Saturday, August 15, the AJC had this headline: “15-year-old Gwinnett boy dies of COVID-19.” The first sentence of the piece declared: “A 15-year-old Gwinnett County boy with no underlying conditions [emphasis mine] has died after contracting COVID-19, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health.” Having closely followed the science and the data on the Wuhan virus—and knowing well the leftist agenda of the AJC—I was immediately skeptical.
An internet search revealed that the story was new (few others were reporting it yet). Thus, it seemed likely that all the AJC reporter who authored the story did was find the death info via the Georgia Department of Public Health’s website that counts Wuhan virus deaths in Georgia. On this site, ages of the deceased are listed, along with whether underlying conditions were present. Being apparently eager to scare parents of school-aged children and to further the lockdown narrative, the AJC went with the story and had it plastered at the top of their home page.
I also thought it likely that the AJC’s eagerness to promote the lockdown narrative would come back to bite them. It did. And like I suspected, it didn’t take long. Less than 24 hours after they again went with the child dying “with no underlying conditions” misrepresentation, Atlanta’s WSB radio reported: “A 15-year-old boy in Gwinnett County has died of the coronavirus, according to officials with the Georgia Department of Public Health. The boy, identified only as being Caucasian, was from Gwinnett County. Officials said he did have an underlying medical condition [emphasis mine].”
Of course the fact that the boy died “with an underlying condition” also makes it likely that he died with the coronavirus instead of dying “of the coronavirus.” Proving again the proverb that a lie makes it halfway around the world before the truth can get its pants on, much of the drive-by media were quick to run with the AJC’s false account of the Gwinnett County boy’s tragic death.
The first two sentences of an AP story on the incident stated: “A 15-year-old boy in metro Atlanta has died from complications caused by COVID-19, making him the second-youngest individual to die from the virus in Georgia, according to state health officials. The Georgia Department of Public Health said the Gwinnett County teenager had no underlying conditions, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Saturday.”
Since the AJC got it wrong, and these reports are likely to change or disappear, I provide you with screenshots:
U.S. News & World Report repeated the AP’s account:
The Times Union, an Albany, New York paper, also repeated the AP’s account:
Sadly, even my local media—housed in one of the most conservative areas of the U.S.—ran with the AP story:
The Daily Beast was quick to get in on the deceit, running their story on the same day as the AJC. A piece entitled “15-Year-Old Boy Dies of COVID in Georgia,” begins: “A 15-year-old boy has become one of Georgia’s latest coronavirus fatalities, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported on Saturday. The teen is the second-youngest person to succumb to the virus in the state and had no underlying health conditions.”
There was also a Reddit thread on the incident. The self-described “front page of the internet” directly quoted from—and had the link to—the AJC story:
Whether or not they took their cues from the AJC, local TV also got in on the act. Atlanta’s CBS 46 reported, “A 15-year-old boy in Gwinnett County has become metro Atlanta’s youngest victim of COVID-19. The teen is the second youngest in the state of Georgia to die from the virus, and is reported as having no underlying medical conditions.”
Notice that, whether or not a deceased individual has underlying conditions, if they have a positive Wuhan virus test (before or after death), they always seem to have died of the Wuhan virus.
Interestingly, not long after WSB radio gave a more accurate account of the boy’s death, the AJC “updated” their story. (As of this writing, most other media reporting on this tragic incident have yet to do such.) Notice at the previous link that, though this account contains the “original story,” the first sentence of the “original story” has been edited, and the “with no underlying conditions” phrase removed.
So again we see, the drive-by media is eagerly invested in keeping the lockdown narrative alive, and shamefully, are willing to use the deaths of children—thus scaring children and their parents alike—to do so.
(See this column at American Thinker.)
Trevor Grant Thomas
At the Intersection of Politics, Science, Faith, and Reason.
www.trevorgrantthomas.com
Trevor is the author of The Miracle and Magnificence of America
tthomas@trevorgrantthomas.com
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