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Spin Doctors: How Media and Politicians Misdiagnosed the COVID-19 Pandemic
As Canada was in the grips of the worst pandemic in a century, Canadian media struggled to tell the story. Newsrooms, already run on threadbare budgets, struggled to make broader connections that could allow their audience to better understand what was really happening, and why. Politicians and public health officials were mostly given the benefit of the doubt that what they said was true and that they acted in good faith.
This book documents each month of the first year of the pandemic and examines the issues that emerged, from racialized workers to residential care to policing. It demonstrates how politicians and uncritical media shaped the popular understanding of these issues and helped to justify the maintenance of a status quo that created the worst ravages of the crisis. Spin Doctors argues alternative ways in which Canadians should understand the big themes of the crisis and create the necessary knowledge to demand large-scale change.
This book documents each month of the first year of the pandemic and examines the issues that emerged, from racialized workers to residential care to policing. It demonstrates how politicians and uncritical media shaped the popular understanding of these issues and helped to justify the maintenance of a status quo that created the worst ravages of the crisis. Spin Doctors argues alternative ways in which Canadians should understand the big themes of the crisis and create the necessary knowledge to demand large-scale change.
555 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 24, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
February 9, 2022
Has every day during the pandemic felt like groundhog day? Does it feel like, despite high rates of vaccination in Canada, we're in an endless cycle where things don't seem that much better? In "Spin Doctors", a thoroughly researched book, Nora Loreto clearly articulates why you may feel this way.
By highlighting the multitude of ways in which politicians and media organizations failed the public during the pandemic, Loreto clearly illustrates how racism, ableism, colonialism, and sexism ensured that the pandemic's effects were not felt equally by all, and how nearly no measures were taken to address such inequities or to protect the most vulnerable. She shows how the emphasis by politicians and media on individual responsibility allowed those in power to absolve themselves of responsibility for mass death.
And through it all, she shows the many ways that they could have, and still could, make the lives of our communities better and safer.
By highlighting the multitude of ways in which politicians and media organizations failed the public during the pandemic, Loreto clearly illustrates how racism, ableism, colonialism, and sexism ensured that the pandemic's effects were not felt equally by all, and how nearly no measures were taken to address such inequities or to protect the most vulnerable. She shows how the emphasis by politicians and media on individual responsibility allowed those in power to absolve themselves of responsibility for mass death.
And through it all, she shows the many ways that they could have, and still could, make the lives of our communities better and safer.
November 24, 2021
Wrote a review of ‘Spin Doctors’ and interviewed author Nora Loreto for The Tyee!
Check it out: https://thetyee.ca/Culture/2021/12/09...
Check it out: https://thetyee.ca/Culture/2021/12/09...
January 12, 2022
Impressive research and great analysis. Wasn't easy or fun to read, as it was so densely packed with facts and quotes, but hard to disagree with any of Nora's conclusions.
October 11, 2022
Well researched and factual look at politics and journalism through the lens of a year in the covid pandemic.
I'd also like to thank Nora Loreto for not skipping over events in my home province of Saskatchewan, as many other authors are wont to do.
I'd also like to thank Nora Loreto for not skipping over events in my home province of Saskatchewan, as many other authors are wont to do.
April 24, 2022
The arguments in this book are sound but I can't remember the last time a read book in more desperate need of a copy editor. It's not the typos, either, it's structure, run-on sentences, and redundancies. The book is structured where each chapter is a month, sort of like in Desmond Cole's book, The Skin We're In, but unlike in that book, covering the pandemic by month where each month is a different topical slant (racism, ablism, defunding of journalism) doesn't really work because those topics don't neatly confine themselves to months. A typical chapter makes a point outright, then continually provides examples - often to an exhausting degree - and the writing is so weighed down that it feels like shoveling snow. Just brutal.
Here's an example of a sentence: "The media industry had the unique position of being one that had to not only operate firing on full cylinders during pandemic - like food processing or long-term care - it also had the incredible task of explaining the pandemic, too."
Nora Loreto is a very efficient communicator on her podcast but less so on the page. There are some really inspired moments though. An early chapter talks about the connections between the Ontario PC Party and the for-profit long term care industry. The information is eyebrow raising and compelling as hell. The chapter on gender makes a super original and compelling analysis of how male politicians perform masculinity and father-figure posters in different ways. But too often it felt overlong. It's a shame because her points are pretty spot on and I wish more people were exposed to them. Even if it doubled the cost of the book to hire a copy editor, they do great work and are not a corner you should cut lightly (says someone who used to work as a copy editor).
I would give the message a 5 and the writing a 1.5.
Here's an example of a sentence: "The media industry had the unique position of being one that had to not only operate firing on full cylinders during pandemic - like food processing or long-term care - it also had the incredible task of explaining the pandemic, too."
Nora Loreto is a very efficient communicator on her podcast but less so on the page. There are some really inspired moments though. An early chapter talks about the connections between the Ontario PC Party and the for-profit long term care industry. The information is eyebrow raising and compelling as hell. The chapter on gender makes a super original and compelling analysis of how male politicians perform masculinity and father-figure posters in different ways. But too often it felt overlong. It's a shame because her points are pretty spot on and I wish more people were exposed to them. Even if it doubled the cost of the book to hire a copy editor, they do great work and are not a corner you should cut lightly (says someone who used to work as a copy editor).
I would give the message a 5 and the writing a 1.5.
April 18, 2026
A post mortem of the pandemic response in Canada. Specifically the media’s failure to see the real stories. I came into this book believing that COVID had exposed the class divides in Canada; this book added context, details and framing for class, race and gender.
Detailed information and good critiques that rarely overreach. A book that everyone in Canada should read and a must read if you have any interest in understanding the media landscape in this country.
Lots of facts and figures, depressing and enraging but this important work done well.
Detailed information and good critiques that rarely overreach. A book that everyone in Canada should read and a must read if you have any interest in understanding the media landscape in this country.
Lots of facts and figures, depressing and enraging but this important work done well.
Read
September 26, 2026In the Conclusion, Loreto asks if future readers live in a world where we've erased the pandemic like the 1918 influenza pandemic or if we've upended the status quo to emerge into a new world.
As of 2026, I fear it's the former rather than the latter. I needed time and space to read this book because 2022 was too close to home. Despite its flaws, this is a critical book to exist and I hope it's only the first of many books to examine what happened and how Canada failed Canadians during the pandemic (despite many individual efforts not to late that happen).
Loreto has a three-pronged aim - 1) to accurately report (as much as possible) the outbreaks, COVID-19 deaths, and failures of the system in the first 18 months of the pandemic, 2) to criticize the failures of politicians at all levels of government, and 3) to lambast the journalism industry for following the political party lines instead of due diligence.
She's very successful in the first two aims. However, she devotes a whole chapter at the end of the book examining how decimated the Canadian journalism industry was in the years preceding and during the pandemic, and how the sheer lack of journalists and resources contributed to the poor, individualized, and unconnected reporting that happened. And - in my opinion - she's not successful enough in highlighting those challenges in the earlier chapters so it reads as hypocritical.
From a reporting perspective, the sheer amount of data and stories she uncovers or connects is astounding. I really appreciated all the information. Especially the spotlights she put on individuals who died from COVID-19 as a result of negligence, legal protections, etc. from employers and society. However, it makes this book DRY. Like so dry. And repetitive. It's data point after data point and because she wrote this in a blitz to have it published within ~6 months it suffers from that.
Which brings me to my other critique. Because it was a relatively rushed production (understandably so), there's a lack of analysis and commentary and some sometimes rough writing on a copy editing level. At least to my satisfaction. I hope she - or someone else - writes a similar book with more retrospective analysis that can pull all the pieces together (and better copy-editing). Finally, I don't think this book needed the 'each chapter is a month in the pandemic' organizational structure. Every chapter focused on an element of the pandemic (e.g., migrant workers, long-term care, gendered impacts) and since each chapter covered more than just its 'month' (in fact the whole 18 months), that felt unnecessary.
There's a benefit to in-the-moment, fresh writing and reporting that gathers all the threads and maybe starts a tapestry just as there's the benefit to hindsight and the time to weave all the threads together.
All to say, I'm glad I bought this book in 2022 and equally glad I only read it a few years later. She's also an exciting journalist to listen to in-person - I recommend going to her book or other events to hear her speak.
As of 2026, I fear it's the former rather than the latter. I needed time and space to read this book because 2022 was too close to home. Despite its flaws, this is a critical book to exist and I hope it's only the first of many books to examine what happened and how Canada failed Canadians during the pandemic (despite many individual efforts not to late that happen).
Loreto has a three-pronged aim - 1) to accurately report (as much as possible) the outbreaks, COVID-19 deaths, and failures of the system in the first 18 months of the pandemic, 2) to criticize the failures of politicians at all levels of government, and 3) to lambast the journalism industry for following the political party lines instead of due diligence.
She's very successful in the first two aims. However, she devotes a whole chapter at the end of the book examining how decimated the Canadian journalism industry was in the years preceding and during the pandemic, and how the sheer lack of journalists and resources contributed to the poor, individualized, and unconnected reporting that happened. And - in my opinion - she's not successful enough in highlighting those challenges in the earlier chapters so it reads as hypocritical.
From a reporting perspective, the sheer amount of data and stories she uncovers or connects is astounding. I really appreciated all the information. Especially the spotlights she put on individuals who died from COVID-19 as a result of negligence, legal protections, etc. from employers and society. However, it makes this book DRY. Like so dry. And repetitive. It's data point after data point and because she wrote this in a blitz to have it published within ~6 months it suffers from that.
Which brings me to my other critique. Because it was a relatively rushed production (understandably so), there's a lack of analysis and commentary and some sometimes rough writing on a copy editing level. At least to my satisfaction. I hope she - or someone else - writes a similar book with more retrospective analysis that can pull all the pieces together (and better copy-editing). Finally, I don't think this book needed the 'each chapter is a month in the pandemic' organizational structure. Every chapter focused on an element of the pandemic (e.g., migrant workers, long-term care, gendered impacts) and since each chapter covered more than just its 'month' (in fact the whole 18 months), that felt unnecessary.
There's a benefit to in-the-moment, fresh writing and reporting that gathers all the threads and maybe starts a tapestry just as there's the benefit to hindsight and the time to weave all the threads together.
All to say, I'm glad I bought this book in 2022 and equally glad I only read it a few years later. She's also an exciting journalist to listen to in-person - I recommend going to her book or other events to hear her speak.
December 16, 2022
Not an easy read, but an important one, for everyone who trusts the government and everyone who doesn't. Nora sums it up well in the conclusion:
"Politicians had two options before them for how they would manage the pandemic: they could have oriented policies toward helping people avoid getting COVID-19, or they could have oriented policies toward defending the status quo: helping businesses pull through the pandemic with as little damage as possible and protecting profits at all costs. They enthusiastically chose the latter, and journalists rarely questioned this logic. That status quo assumes economic growth must continue at all costs; workers wages and working conditions should not be too much of a threat to bosses bottom lines; and individuals should be valued based solely on their economic location in society, their racial identity and personal capacity. To protect the status quo, politicians needed to spin the pandemic to make it sound as if they were actually doing everything possible to protect Canadians given the information they had. They clearly were not."
"Politicians had two options before them for how they would manage the pandemic: they could have oriented policies toward helping people avoid getting COVID-19, or they could have oriented policies toward defending the status quo: helping businesses pull through the pandemic with as little damage as possible and protecting profits at all costs. They enthusiastically chose the latter, and journalists rarely questioned this logic. That status quo assumes economic growth must continue at all costs; workers wages and working conditions should not be too much of a threat to bosses bottom lines; and individuals should be valued based solely on their economic location in society, their racial identity and personal capacity. To protect the status quo, politicians needed to spin the pandemic to make it sound as if they were actually doing everything possible to protect Canadians given the information they had. They clearly were not."
March 29, 2022
This was a pretty good book on COVID-19 policy in Canada.
I found it quite interesting.
I read this book as human interest, as I found the title particularly intriguing. This is why I picked it up. I can't say I agree with all statements by the author, but I found it an interesting read.
3.7/5
I found it quite interesting.
I read this book as human interest, as I found the title particularly intriguing. This is why I picked it up. I can't say I agree with all statements by the author, but I found it an interesting read.
3.7/5
June 28, 2022
A thorough and insightful re-telling of the first year of the pandemic in Canada with a focus on which stories were told and which were ignored by the media. Despite following the news meticulously I learned so much from this book and it helped me understand the events of 2020 through a much broader lens.
August 27, 2026
I mean at the end of the day, what good faith? This was the most corrupt transfer of wealth in history. Theresa Tam and everyone towing the line under her belong in prison. Public health knowledge went out the window and ventured into criminal territory that left people broke, dead and divided.
January 22, 2022
An absolutely essential read for anyone working in journalism.
December 31, 2022
Heavy topic, but good to be aware
November 27, 2023
Must read for Canadians about the pandemic
April 18, 2022
Canadian politicians chose to protect profits over lives. This book is a thorough examination of the impacts of COVID-19 and what the decimation of the journalism profession in this country has cost us.
Prior to reading Spin Doctors I was completely unaware of the (former) Global Public Health Intelligence Network and the history of long term care in Canada. Leto pulls many threads together into a bigger picture.
Prior to reading Spin Doctors I was completely unaware of the (former) Global Public Health Intelligence Network and the history of long term care in Canada. Leto pulls many threads together into a bigger picture.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews