Stelter: Even If Fox News Are the Wrong Messengers, Mask-Wearing Guidelines Send Mixed Messages

EXCERPT:

STELTER: “And there is obviously a couple of things going on here at the same time. One, pandemic trauma is real and we all have different reactions to it. Different people are handling the anxiety and the trauma in different ways. And unfortunately there are irrational voices that are drowning out the rational ones, making it harder for folks in the middle to find common ground. I mean, when Tucker Carlson is on TV equating kids wearing masks to child abuse, it's a lot harder to have a nuanced conversation about whether kids should be wearing masks and when and where. But, even if these Fox figures are the wrong messengers, they are right to be pointing out the government’s mixed messages. Dine indoors without a mask, they say, but make sure your kids cover up in school. Even if you think you can rationalize all of the rules, others can’t or won’t. And so the social fabric frays some more. I think newsrooms based in the northeast need to acknowledge that many people and many states changed their masking habits months ago, and interviewers need to keep challenging inconsistent and confusing claims from the CDC."