
Analysis: Did the press overhype the danger posed by the Omicron variant?
CNN
A version of this article first appeared in the "Reliable Sources" newsletter.
When news of Omicron emerged over the Thanksgiving holiday, media organizations scrambled to cover the new variant and what it might mean for the world. The problem, however, was that very little was known about it at the time. And so, the absence of data created a void that was quite unfortunately filled with a lot of speculation.

Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani bitterly clashed over age and experience Thursday in the final debate before New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary, as Cuomo warned that electing the progressive state assemblyman is unprepared for the job and Mamdani hammered the former governor over scandals during his time in Albany.

On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security posted a striking graphic on its official X account. Uncle Sam, a symbol of American patriotism, is depicted nailing a poster to a wall that reads, “Help your country… and yourself.” Written underneath the poster is the sentence, “REPORT ALL FOREIGN INVADERS,” and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement hot line.