Same song, different verse

It may be difficult to believe a global pandemic more than a century ago could have presented the nuances and headaches familiar to what we’re experiencing today.

One could argue being so connected by virtue of our technological advancements, while enlightened with the benefit of hindsight, should have established the framework to learn from our past. But when taking a look at the precursors of our newspaper and others in the area in 1918, it seems those who came before us faced many of the same questions and frustrations as they tried to make sense of the crisis unfolding in front of them.

It could also be said, with little resistance, that misinformation at present is at its most widespread in the digital world — a place where conspiracy theories thrive and miracle cures inundate social media feeds for everything from cellulite to the next coronavirus.

In looking into our predecessor’s past coverage of the deadly 1918 influenza pandemic, though, it becomes clear the way people think about the world around them may have evolved with technology, but as emotional meatbags with delicate fears and and a penchant for impulsivity, we’ve changed very little in a century.

“THEORY REGARDING BIRDS ILLOGICAL” - reads one headline from Columbus in October 1918, with a report of a large number of dead birds found in and near the city.

Fears quickly spread concerning the “Kaiser,” who was suspected of having inoculated the birds with the deadly new influenza in an effort to further contaminate the United States and help his own country’s cause during the war effort. I know it may be difficult to believe for some, but the theory is ultimately refuted in the story, though, not because of any readily available scientific data, but because the birds were reported to be from the Canary Islands, thus making it impossible for the Germans to have been able to obtain them in large numbers, at least as far as local authorities were concerned.

This anecdotal local precedent is important for those hearing seemingly intelligent people argue that the COVID-19 pandemic was caused by Chinese government scientists to subvert America’s position in the world. Even before the advent of the internet, conspiracy theories were quick to sprout and even faster to spread, with our ancestors in this part of Mississippi not immune to the cognitive dissonance.

There also seemed to be some apprehension in newspapers of the day when it came to presenting daily updates to their readers. In one instance, the East Mississippi Times, one of the original precursors of the SDN, published a front page story on Oct. 11, 1918 under the headline “About Thirty Deaths at The College but No New Cases Developing.”

The story’s first sentence states, emphatically, as if to calm readers: “The Times is not an alarmist and would not knowingly exaggerate the serious situation that faces us today in the epidemic of Influenza that is now raging at the A&M College and in the city, nor will this suppress fact, for we believe the public is entitled to the facts.”

This hit home for me, especially, because I feel like I’ve said something similar numerous times in my columns trying to qualify our position as an objective beacon of truth during a time when misinformation fans the evergrowing flames of pandemic-induced chaos.

It’s important to point out, even during the 1918 pandemic, it would not have been common for a newspaper to immediately rush to qualify itself and its approach in the first sentence of the story, which shows the author likely had an acute awareness of how each update on the pandemic was perceived and in turn, likely received widespread pushback when information did not jibe with the sentiments of the local majority.

The story published in The Times on Oct. 11, 1918, reports 30 deaths occurred at what is now Mississippi State University just in the past week. The story was followed by a full list of names of the dead from the college. As a newspaper editor in this community, I can’t begin to imagine the societal toll taken in the town by each death. Albeit, none of the students named during this week were from Starkville, but the thought of that many deaths in one week is more than anything we’ve come close to seeing in our community during our lifetimes, including both World Wars and the current pandemic.

The next week in an issue from Oct. 18, four deaths were reported at the school, but the writer expressed relief that no new cases had been confirmed over the previous week. It was at this time local medical authorities assured the public that the worst was over.

By comparison, and with Memorial Day in mind, Oktibbeha County saw eight young men killed in the entirety