Wendy Matsumura
wendymats.bsky.social
Wendy Matsumura
@wendymats.bsky.social
Mom, dog lover, nurse.
Reposted by Wendy Matsumura
Me, a public health person, just sitting over here reflecting on the fact that the US has experienced a 7% increase in infant mortality post-Dobbs.

Like, do you realize what that says about this society from an ethical perspective? That we made policy choices that caused this?

#PHEthx
Infant Mortality Increases Across US Following Dobbs Decision
The Dobbs decision was associated with a 7% absolute increase in overall infant mortality—equivalent to 247 excess deaths—and a 10% increase among infants with congenital anomalies, corresponding to 2...
www.ajmc.com
December 17, 2024 at 6:29 PM
Reposted by Wendy Matsumura
“Debra OConnell, the Disney executive who directly oversees ABC News, dined with Mr. Trump’s incoming chief of staff, Susie Wiles, in Palm Beach last Monday, according to two people briefed on their interaction.”

www.nytimes.com/2024/12/14/b...
ABC to Pay $15 Million to Settle a Defamation Suit Brought by Trump
The outcome of the lawsuit marks an unusual victory for President-elect Donald J. Trump in his ongoing legal campaign against national news organizations.
www.nytimes.com
December 15, 2024 at 2:55 PM
Reposted by Wendy Matsumura
Our team still studies “collective sensemaking” during breaking news events. What we see with MH17 and Jan6 are attacks on the sensemaking process itself… not just a distortion (like those described in this article) but a denial of service attack on sensemaking. www.cip.uw.edu/2023/12/06/r...
Facts, frames, and (mis)interpretations: Understanding rumors as collective sensemaking
The communicative solution to pervasive misinformation is not better facts, but better frames.
www.cip.uw.edu
December 14, 2024 at 4:24 PM
Reposted by Wendy Matsumura
Working on MH17 data, then PhD student Ahmer Arif described denial of sensemaking: it felt like staring at static on an old TV or being forced to wear headphones pumping in static noise constantly, you couldn’t make sense of anything, it made your head hurt, the healthy thing to do was quit trying.
December 14, 2024 at 4:48 PM
Reposted by Wendy Matsumura
Thought-experiment on egregious DOD nomination:

—If you got onto 2pm airline flight and heard that pilots had been drinking at 10am, would you stay on the flight? (FYI: FAA rule is minimum 8 hours 'bottle to throttle')

—Airline flight puts couple hundred lives at risk. SecDef can affect millions
December 9, 2024 at 10:13 PM
Reposted by Wendy Matsumura
Grim stuff. This is who Trump wants to put in charge of the military. www.newyorker.com/news/news-de...
December 2, 2024 at 2:09 PM