Does the media over cover a topic, and then later not cover it enough? Yes, of course. They cover what is topical, popular and what others are covering (where do you think many ideas for stories come from?), which is why some subjects get covered ad nauseam.
Relating this to pests, coverage was widespread about Lyme’s Disease (ticks), and then West Nile Virus (mosquitoes), and now bed bugs. Have those other diseases or pests gone away? No. From a business standpoint, we are seeing far more impact by bed bugs, yet they pose far less health threats than the others do. Bed bugs do pose a threat to one’s psyche – who wants something feeding on them when they sleep? Ew!
One expert stated a year ago that bed bugs would only get worse before they get better. Well, over this past year, I’ve seen this prediction to come true. I won’t scare people by saying all the places that we’ve found bed bugs and bat bugs in Minnesota and Wisconsin, but, I will say that we keep finding them in new places. As for hotels, which everyone seems to think may be a primary source for bed bugs, we aren’t seeing many – at least in our accounts.
What do you think will be the next media darling – pest related?
