0: https://www.texasmonthly.com/food/heb-prepared-coronavirus-p...
King of the hill predicted the TP apocalypse for y2k.
The job of the press is to inform the public--not yell "Fire!" in a crowded theatre.
Yes, they should have self-censored.
Shouting "Covid causing shortage of bottled water--News 6 reports!" does nothing to inform the public nor does it create a useful call to action. It only creates a problem--often where none previously existed. There was ZERO reason to believe that Covid would cause a water system failure or contamination.
This is different from "Hurricane incoming. Stock up on water. Here are the places which still have it." The information is useful, timely, and relevant.
Having the free speech protection of being the press does not absolve the press of the responsibility to not be a jerk.
But yelling “fire” in a crowded theater is only wrong when there isn’t one, no?
You go on to argue that it’s ok to have the press explicitly tell people do something (i.e. to stock up on water) when we live in a time when having the press directing anyone to do anything results in the exact kind of criticism you levied against them in your previous post. They reported that toilet paper is flying off the shelves. Arguably, an equally if not more effective solution would be to restrict to the number of units a customer could buy at once. But that doesn’t involve bashing the press.
B) The press reported toilet paper was flying off the shelves. Except that before they did that, there were only marginal shortages in certain places, mostly because toilet paper is bulky and slow to restock. After the reporting, it was out everywhere instantly. In this instance, that did great harm to those who couldn't just "stock and store".
C) "Arguably, an equally if not more effective solution would be to restrict to the number of units a customer could buy at once."
Sadly, this doesn't actually work. If most people buy toilet paper once a week, a shift to once every 5 days is way more than enough to cause a supply chain shock. There is no way to enforce a consumption level that wouldn't supply chain shock once the panic got started.
The shittiest (ha) TPs are the ones where the buyer cheaps out, i.e the one you found in every AirBnB on the planet (when AirBnB was still a thing)...
I do not recommend Angel Soft unless "falls apart like it was formed from loosely collected glitter" is a plus for you.
Summer, for example, is generally considered a slow season, because many people are travelling and spending time outside, less time shopping.