ABSTRACT
There is an old news adage that goes “If it bleeds, it leads”, meaning simply, the story with the most graphic elements gets the most coverage. This probably had a lot to do with the intense media attention given to this story, this “epidemic” in the early 1990s, but we suggest that it had a lot to do with the “spin” put onto the story by the vegetarian or poultry lobby, to help raise the stakes and get attention. Using scare tactics and the media, the story took on a life of its own. The actual research was never reported on the six o’clock news, because prions are boring, not sexy; on the other hand, the threat of a world wide brain disease epidemic, now that could sell some papers, and the slaughtering of thousands of cows was just a bonus (as well as a reaction to the mass concern).
