Nobody is saying there wasn't good information out there. The point is that there is not an institution that has earned any credibility. That hurts when you're trying to manage a crisis.
You are a flamethrower in a field of strawmen. The point is not that the media caused this. The point is that it is worse than it could be because we don't have trustworthy and credible media. A trustworthy and credible institution could have convinced a lot of people to take this seriously while also not panic buying 17ing toilet paper.
So you're saying she intentionally misled with her tweet and media constantly does the same, and you wonder why people don't trust them? And she was far from the worst. Her's was just misleading while others actually lied and claimed the President said governors were on their own.
https://twitter.com/MaraGay/status/1239603785275670529
And look, I try not to call names (although I certainly give in to the temptation at times), but you don't understand the lesson of the Boy Who Cried Wolf, and you are calling other people dumbasses. First graders intuitively get the lesson of that story and you are sitting there going, "But the boy didn't lie the last time, why are those dumbass villagers ignoring good information?" Maybe you shouldn't be opining on other people's intelligence. It's one thing to go around being a dick when you are really smart. You should try not to do it before you can grasp things we teach to elementary students.
Again, having credible institutions matters in a crisis. We would be in better shape if we had a credible media institution with widespread reach. Some people will have the time and inclination and ability to sift through the noise and get good information. Some people are honestly too stupid to help regardless (maybe those that don't understand children's lessons?). But a lot of people fall in between and would follow recommendations from a trusted source. They are probably following recommendations from sources they trust now, it's just probably somebody they know rather than a media source, and who knows whether that trust is wellplaced. I have seen people that are generally intelligent act in ways that I think are overreacting and underreacting, although I don't know anybody hoarding toiletpaper or that have gone into a full bunker mentality in places where there aren't confirmed cases. But having a trusted institution to give information to those people would be very helpful in a time like this. It could limit panic buying. It could limit the number of people making last hurrahs at bars. Wouldn't eliminate it, but especially on the panic side, a small number of people not buying into the panic could eliminate it as the idiots bought all the TP they could afford and people realized shelves were still stocked.