WaPo Poll On Sports Attendance: Real, Or Just Another Shameless Attempt At Fear Porn?

A new poll from The Washington Post revealed that less than half of Americans feel comfortable attending sporting events, even with the availability of a vaccine.

Of course, it's up to you decide if this poll is actually believable. Or if you would actually be afraid to attend a sporting event -- or if you ever really were. One thing's for sure, the Post's audience and those who responded to this poll certainly deserve to be called into question.

The New York Times and the Post have been the leaders in reporting dire COVID news, or at least news designed to make things seem scarier than they probably warrant.

That's based on another recent study, reported by the Times, no less. It showed that the national publications “cover Covid news much more negatively than foreign media, scientific journals or regional media within the U.S.”

As as Forbes wrote back in November: "Through it all, America’s most popular media outlets have proved extraordinarily adept at finding the clouds in a blue sky and making them the focus of the story.”

That again seems to be the case with the Post's latest "poll."

The actual truth is that most major sports leagues will have fans back in the stands, at least in some capacity. The NFL has even indicated they intend to pack the house. And when no crisis results from these packed stadiums, the Post will fall silent and find something else to incite fear about.

Written by
Sam Amico spent 15 years covering the NBA for Sports Illustrated, FOX Sports and NBA.com, along with a few other spots, and currently runs his own basketball website on the side, FortyEightMinutes.com.