A note from our Editor in Chief @nxthompson on Covid-19 and WIRED: [THREAD] 👇
The job of a journalist is to keep the public informed. At its best, our profession helps to shine lights where light isn’t being shined and help people make the billions of little decisions that flap the butterfly wings that govern our world. 2/
That always matters, but it’s hard to think of a moment in my lifetime where it's mattered more. Because of one virus, or perhaps one encounter with a bat, entire countries are shut down. Venice might not have been so empty since the Black Death. 3/
The heroes of the moment are doctors and other health care workers keeping people alive; the civilians caring for neighbors; the construction workers putting up testing facilities; the scientists tracking the virus; the researchers developing diagnostics, drugs, and vaccines. 4/
But journalists have a crucial role to play too. We have to provide the best information possible at a time where many things are unclear. We have to combat the lies that spread online or even from seats of power. 5/
We need to help the public understand the science of Covid-19 and we need to spotlight the work that could help lead us to a cure. We need to play our civic part in helping to flatten the curve. 6/
WIRED has a particular responsibility here, as a publication focused on solutions, and as a publication obsessed by science and the future. So we’ve moved many of our WIRED reporters to cover the pandemic, dedicating as many resources as we can to keeping the public informed. 7/
And so, as part of that effort, we’re lifting our paywall on coronavirus coverage and starting a newsletter of the best stories you need to know about this pandemic both from WIRED and from other publications. Stay safe, stay informed, and sign up here: wired.com/newsletter/sci… 8/ 
