Hanging Tough At Thirty Rock

After being interviewed in a cursory way by NYPD detectives, we had our nostrils swabbed. This is not, I learned, a reliable test for anthrax, but it's useful for the New York Department of Health, which has little data on the disease. Or maybe it's just a placebo. ("I got it checked," we can tell ourselves). Then we were given two weeks' worth of Cipro as a precaution and advised we'd need to take the antibiotic for two months total to be effective. Side effects can include diarrhea, abdominal pain, rashes.

As I left, a doctor scoffed at all of the people outside the building phoning their physicians or crowding emergency rooms for Cipro. It's totally unnecessary for them, she said, though the anthrax scare might do wonders for curing the clap.

With rumors flying, the only thing we knew for sure was that we didn't like watching the FBI publicly blame Brokaw's assistant for being "unavailable" to be interviewed. Mayor Giuliani was said to be furious over the bureau's delay in analyzing the lab results. Three weeks elapsed between exposure and diagnosis. Prompter action at NBC could have prevented attacks elsewhere and given more time for treatment.

You may have noticed that NBC News chose not to air the name of the assistant. Not surprisingly, the network was pummeled with e-mail charging hypocrisy. Typical of the media, they said. You only react like human beings when it's about you. Fair enough. But it's also true that post-Sept. 11 some of the old rules are being reappraised. A new sensitivity is creeping back in, and a recognition that not everything has to be reported in every situation. Even so, last week reaffirmed my faith in truth as a cure for almost anything, especially fear.

© 2001