You know what’s going to single-handedly save the news industry? Swine Flu!

Seriously, what other story in the past few months since the election has captivated audiences and had them glued to their newspapers/TVs like this? The Chicago Tribune’s website has gone into what I call “emergency mode” with its layout, which is usually reserved for plane crashes, dead celebrities and if the Cubs win a game in the playoffs. It’s only a matter of time before the Sun-Times follows suit.

With everyone freaking out over swine flu and the media pouring gas on the flames, kudos to CNN (of all sources) for posting a piece that basically says “calm down and shut the fuck up. It’s not that bad.”

There had been no confirmed deaths is one dead kid in the United States related to swine flu as of Tuesday afternoon. But another virus had killed thousands of people since January and is expected to keep killing hundreds of people every week for the rest of the year.

That one? The regular flu.

An outbreak of swine flu that is suspected in more than 150 deaths in Mexico and has sickened dozens of people in the United States and elsewhere has grabbed the attention of a nervous public and of medical officials worried the strain will continue to mutate and spread.

But even if there are swine-flu deaths outside Mexico — and medical experts say there very well may be — the virus would have a long way to go to match the roughly 36,000 deaths that seasonal influenza causes in the United States each year.

Obviously people should be paying attention to the news and absorbing information, but I think some need to take a step back and see that at the end of the day the mainstream media is just a business, and a sensational story like swine flu means more eyeballs glued to the newspaper/TV, which will help bring in more ad revenue.