While the local news channels really ran with the Santa-versus-H1N1 story, MSNBC got in on the action as well. As a serious national cable channel, MSNBC was able to contribute the perspective that some of the fly-by-night local programs lacked: for instance, pointing out that not only contact with sniffling children, but “obesity” and age could make Santas especially at risk to contract swine flu. To illustrate this point, go to the 0:55 mark of the clip below, where you will see a Santa munching on a donut.

E Long Fong I Song, aka “ELFIS,” made this impassioned plea in song for an FDA-approved H1N1 vaccine; he added that Tamiflu and Relenza wouldn’t do. Note: ELFIS is an elf and not a Santa.

And then, of course, the local programs:

Norfolk, North Carolina’s WAVY hit the local mall and discovered hand sanitizers and CDC-approved cleaning products in the line for the Snow Globe. The times, they are a changin’.

Wisconsin’s WISN made use of the frightening ‘needle dipping in a vaccine bottle’ footage, at 0:50 in the video below:

Rather than just referring on vague “groups,” Austin News KXAN pointed out that the Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas supported the push. They also noted that you should “not mess with that group.”

While most of the mall Santas interviewed by the local news channels mentioned extra health precautions, like hand sanitizer, on the whole they didn’t seem to be clamoring for the vaccine. As easy as it is to poke fun at local news reporting (hey, look!), taken together, it can provide relevant information at the ground level. Trips to the local mall: journalism AND an excuse to go to Bath & Bodyworks!

Fortunately, Mediaite has come up with some costume suggestions for you. Pulled straight from the headlines, these are guaranteed to be hits:

For obvious reasons, the current president of the United States is likely to be a popular Halloween costume this year. But beyond form-fitting Hart Schaffner Marx suits, the challenge remains: How is a trick-or-treater supposed to pull off the look?

Fortunately, cable pundit/voice of reason Glenn Beck is on the case. A well-executed Obama according to Glenn Beck’s imagination should wear a Che Guevara t-shirt, a Hitler mustache, and a Soviet-style ushanka, preferably bearing a red hammer-and-sickle. Gasoline can for torching the Average American optional.

Barack Obama, According to Keith Olbermann’s Imagination

Cable pundit/voice of reason Keith Olbermann, on the other hand, might have slightly different ideas about what constitutes a good Obama costume. Olbermann’s Obama should have billowy, flowing wings, a resplendent halo, and, if budget allows, a heavenly host of sanctified Cabinet appointees carrying blazing swords and playing gleaming trumpets, singing the praise of the anointed one, and also mentioning offhandedly that Bush kind of sucked.

Summer of Death

Year-by-year, the Grim Reaper is always a popular Halloween costume, particularly among people who don’t have any costume ideas when they go to Party City on October 30th and kind of just phone it in. But coming off the Summer of Death, the costume has a special resonance this year. A (sexy) black hood, (sexy) black robe, and (sexy) blood-dripping scythe are of course mandatory, but how to work in the contemporary angle? It would probably be in poor taste to carry photos of Michael Jackson, Ted Kennedy, Farrah Fawcett, Walter Cronkite, etc. A safer bet might be to carry around copies of expired mags Gourmet, Trump, Vibe, Nickelodeon Magazine, etc.

Levi Johnston

Last year’s Levi costume would have been an awkward suit and a hockey stick, but this year it’s much different — now that he’s an aspiring male model. Sarah Palin‘s former-almost-son-in-law is promising to reveal “huge” things about the former VP candidate, but the big news is his upcoming spread in Playgirl. For this popular costume, just wear briefs and bask in your 15 minutes of fame (briefs optional).

Next Page: Great newsy group costumes, and a twist on the Andre Agassi look

I have friends that have gotten the swine flu. All of them told me they felt very, very sick, and that it was awful. So I’m not in any way suggesting that the H1N1 virus is not real…I would suggest however that it is possible the virus is not a naturally occurring virus. I have read reports from people who say (as doctors) that there is evidence to suggest this virus was created by man; to call it Swine Flu is then a misnomer, as it really is Swine Flu plus some other stuff stitched together. These doctors said such genetic mutation was impossible in nature.

Why might a man create a swine flu virus?

I say ‘propaganda’ because, in my heart, there is something mighty suspicious about declaring an emergency for something that has yet to show itself to be a grand pandemic. Our American President Obama has declared a national emergency about this virus, which he in his own words said was, at this point, a preventative measure. So, why declare an emergency if there isn’t one?…in our fear, we attract the worst, and, in conjunction with that, how those fears are used by others without integrity to try to create a power against Us to promote discomfort and dis-ease.

Ah yes, the power of fear in political matters! Also, there is a bunch of stuff about mandatory vaccinations. Not to rain on Corgan’s swine flu truther parade, but so far the vaccine has only been made mandatory for some U.S. health-care workers (who aren’t necessarily happy about it), but not for the general public. Even if it was — and if it was, you would have heard a much louder outcry long before now — there is not enough to go around, meaning that among other things by declaring this a national emergancy Obama may have actually made his life more difficult. In a sort of related side note, some what more grounded in reality, many New York City parents are apparently opting out of swine flu vaccinations.

Has Matt Drudge stumbled upon the Mayan code for the rumored upcoming 2012 apocalypse? A quick click on this morning’s Drudge Report might lead you to think so. (Plus, if there was such a code, Drudge no doubt, would be an early adopter). Alas, no. Today’s ominous, numerical headline is actually Drudge’s way of letting us know that over the weekend the President declared the swine flu outbreak to be a national emergency. Meaning, one supposes, that H1N1 is the new 9/11? Or just that the country needs to call 911. Probably the latter, come to think of it. From the somewhat less than apocalyptic article.

President Barack Obama declared the swine flu outbreak a national emergency, giving his health chief the power to let hospitals move emergency rooms offsite to speed treatment and protect noninfected patients.

The declaration, signed Friday night and announced Saturday, comes with the disease more prevalent than ever in the country and production delays undercutting the government’s initial, optimistic estimates that as many as 120 million doses of the vaccine could be available by mid-October.

Health authorities say more than 1,000 people in the United States, including almost 100 children, have died from the strain of flu known as H1N1, and 46 states have widespread flu activity. So far only 11 million doses have gone out to health departments, doctor’s offices and other providers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials.

Administration officials said the declaration was a pre-emptive move designed to make decisions easier when they need to be made. Officials said the move was not in response to any single development.

After a summer of Celebrity Swine Flu Watch, Mediaite has learned Fox News White House correspondent Major Garrett is the latest reporter to contract the H1N1 virus, or Swine Flu.

Garrett updated his status Thursday on Twitter after missing a few days last week:

Hey, Tweeps! Not on vacation. Not in witness protection (they say my request is “pending”). Seriously, been down w/ flu. Back 2 WH Monday

Tweeps! Thanks 4 the get well wishes. Deeply appreciated. Don’t have precise diagnosis, but my new BFF = Relenza. U do math.

Today he wrote: “Hey, Tweeps! At Harvard today, talking to Kennedy School abt journalism & politics. I will miss the briefing, but not a grilling.”

Garrett was on the air once yesterday, but from outside the White House in a report on The Fox Report. There’s no word yet whether his diagnosis will mean he has to stay out of the White House for now.

While he only appeared on air once yesterday, he was mentioned quite a few times, as the ongoing White House/Fox News feud escalates. Still, the White House has consistently made it a point to exclude Garrett from their complaints about the network.

We’ve reached out to Fox News for comment, and will update when we know more.

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In another case, the sickness was a financial malady responsible for the moving and the shaking, as New York Times reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin skyrocketed from the #37 Print/Online Reporter to #5 thanks to the forthcoming release of his verbosely titled book Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System—and Themselves. The latest issue of Vanity Fair includes an excerpt from the work, as well as a Q&A, in addition to the buzz Sorkin has received from his other recent financial coverage in the Times of shamed businessman Guy Hands, a salacious take entitled “A Financier Peels Back the Curtain.” As a result, he’s setting Google ablaze.

Elsewhere, Lorne Michaels benefitted from SNL‘s return (enjoy the classics here!), jumping from #4 to #2 among TV Executives, while TV reporter Ann Curry leaped nine spots, from #20 to #11 after a highly publicized interview with disputed Iranian President Ahmadinejad as well as likely gaining some followers after a public report about an emergency landing on her Twitter account. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg crept up the media mogul top 5, to the fourth slot, after announcing that the social networked topped 300 million users and is now profitable. Meanwhile, madness in Washington took the Washington Post‘s Dana Milbank to #1 from #3 in the Print/Online Reporters category.

A handful of huge jumps included Armen Keteyian, from #50 to #12 among TV Reporters after an Emmy win for investigative journalism. Similarly, the start of the NFL season meanted a #43 to #13 jump for TV reporter Michael Smith, while the ever pleasant Ann Coulter elbowed her way to the top’s outer edges — from #20 to #8 when it comes to TV Pundits.

Check out the entire set of rankings here.

As we’ve mentioned before, its almost as if the H1N1 virus has hired a celebrity publicist to keep in the news. Viewers of AC360 enjoyed a whole new Swine Flu experience when they were able to witness the Cooper’s realization that he had the same sickness that Gupta had while in Afghanistan.

So celebrities get sick — where’s the news? As you well know if you consume any media whatsoever, the ominous illness sent the news world into a tizzy earlier this year, only to return with a vengeance just in time for the first day of school. And as it turns out, swine flu is not far from your average influenza and one in ten New Yorkers have caught the virus so far in 2009. That makes the fact that we’re tracking the health of some minor celebrities (they’re just like us!) a bit odd, once you put things into perspective.

In a blog post on CNN.com, entitled “I went to Afghanistan and all I got was H1N1,” Dr. Gupta writes about his laundry list of symptoms, including a cough with a “stinging pain,” a higher fever, “lack of appetite, terrible sinus congestion, body aches” and more, but admits, “It was a lot like… the flu – with a different name.” And his treatment regiment? Just “some Tylenol and a sinus decongestant.” In sharing his news, Manson — loath the break character — quipped, “Unfortunately, I am going to survive.”

So why do celebs feel the need to announce such routine health updates? Well, we know the media loves a good epidemic and for the stars, the publicity never hurts: Gupta’s blog post is everywhere today, while Maddow dished about her illness during a visit to Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, when guests are expected to share amusing stories. Meanwhile, Grint’s diagnosis came in the heat of this summer’s Potter-mania, and as for Manson, when was the last time you heard his name? Exactly — let’s just say the headlines never hurt. Get well soon, guys!

The H1N1 flu virus, or swine flu, seems to have had a more up and down and up again career than Britney Spears in the past six months.

First it was Barack Obama’s fault and then spring breaking in Mexico was pretty much the equivalent of spring breaking in Iraq, and then it wasn’t that big of a deal, and then celebrities were sporting protective masks, and then it was back to school time and The New York Daily News reported a study that claimed 1 out of 10 New Yorkers have had swine flu.

And apparently among those 1 out of 10 infected city-dwellers is the beloved, slightly dorky (but in a good way) Rachel Maddow, as she revealed to Jimmy Fallon this week during Late Night with Jimmy Fallon that she recently had a stint with “the capital F Flu” herself.

Although their conversation about the flu was brief, gossip/ media blogs alike were all dawning frantic headlines like “Rachel Maddow: I Had Swine Flu!” this morning despite her pretty light attitude while discussing her experience with the flu last night.

Definitely a key publicity move for the H1N1 virus during this second wave of swine flu fever that everyone has appeared to have contracted in preparation for the new school year.

What can the media do when there’s either not much to talk about or nobody’s paying attention? Get people scared about the weather!Hurricane Bill, which is currently off the coast of Bermuda, is the first major hurricane of the season. It was recently upgraded to a Category 4 hurricane, with maximum wind speeds of about 135 miles per hour. This all sounds like scary stuff. In 2004, Hurricane Charley, another Category 4 hurricane, dealt $18.9 billion worth of damage in today’s dollars and caused President George W. Bush to declare Florida a federal disaster area. And after Hurricane Katrina (which was a more powerful Category 5), Americans are aware of the massive devastation that hurricanes can wreak.

The buried lede here is that most experts seem to be in agreement that Hurricane Bill won’t impact the East Coast in any significant way. According to Reuters, “Bill was not expected to hit the United States but high winds and surf could reach Cape Cod in Massachusetts and coastal Maine.” “No computer models showed Bill posing a major danger to the United States,” wrote CNN.  “The East Coast is lucky,” a meteorologist told Bloomberg.

Hurricanes are deadly, damaging forces of nature; weather is notoriously unpredictable, and it is the media’s job to keep people appraised of high-impact, low-probability events.  But as with Swine Flu H1N1, the profit motive becomes an ulterior motive when you’re in the business of selling eyeballs and your warnings seem to be the only things those eyeballs will watch or read. Overblown sensationalism ensues.

Countdown: how long before Rush Limbaugh blames the Hurricane Bill frenzy on President Obama, somehow?

[I]t’s my understanding that many people who took regular enemas instead of vaccines during the 1918 pandemic made it out on the other side as well … That said, my opinion is that the most effective cleanses involve enemas or colonics to get in there and physically clean out the filth.

This is just one piece of HuffPo “health advice” scrutinized by Salon’s Vital Signs columnist Rahul K. Parikh yesterday in “The Huffington Post is crazy about your health.” In addition to disapproving of this method of flu prevention (“This is not exactly first-line advice on influenza prevention…Evans’ notion contradicts basic germ theory”), he isn’t a fan of much else in the way of HuffPo’s health content.  Parikh takes a close, critical look at the site’s Living section, and notices that:

But when it comes to health and wellness, that diverse forum [HuffPo] seems defined mostly by bloggers who are friends of Huffington or those who mirror her own advocacy of alternative medicine, described in her books and in many magazine profiles of her. Among others, the site has given a forum to Oprah Winfrey’s women’s health guru, Christiane Northrup, who believes women develop thyroid disease due to an inability to assert themselves; Deepak Chopra, who mashes up medicine and religion into self-help books and PBS infomercials; and countless others pitching cures that range from herbs to blood electrification to ozonated water to energy scans.

Parikh also challenges HuffPo Wellness editor Patricia Fitzgerald, who holds a master’s degree in traditional Chinese medicine and a doctorate in homeopathic medicine, for posts approving actress Jenny McCarthy’s alternative treatments of her son’s autistism — which, Parikh notes, are “all unproven.”

Carrey and McCarthy.

This isn’t the first time HuffPo’s health coverage has been criticized. Seed magazine science blogger “Orac” — the pseudonymous “surgeon/scientiest” who writes the  Respectful Insolence blog —  has excoriated HuffPo frequently in the past for its “pseudoscience” and “quackery,” particularly with respect to its anti-vaccine voices on autism (which include, most recently, an anti-vaccine screed by McCarthy’s boyfriend Jim Carrey that Parikh points out is riddled with errors) and other dubious claims (such as a post by Evans’ claim that antibiotics cause cancer). Concludes Orac: “Certainly, the HuffPo editors seem utterly untroubled that, among physicians and medical scientists, HuffPo is viewed with utter contempt and ridicule.”

Salon’s Parikh takes a more measured tone, proving his point again and again in the piece with dispassionate analysis, fact-checking and debunking. The rash of inaccuracies he turns up are disturbing not only in and of themselves, but because of what they point to:  that “one of the most valuable pieces of real estate on the Internet” is run not by vetted, qualified experts, but by a cast of characters from Huffington’s Rolodex who “appear to be picked by Huffington on a whim.” Parikh points out that the authors often have their own agendas to promote and books to peddle, like Evans’ Cleaning Up! (2008).

This would not be quite as bad if all the facts were provided. But there, too, HuffPo falls short. In his own critique some HuffPo health articles (including Evans’), Steven Novella of the Science-Based Medicine blog points out:

Readers were not given enough information to make an informed decision about the claims that were being promoted, nor even of the controversial status of the claims. They were also fed demonstrable medical falsehoods and misinformation. This is now what I expect from the Huffington Post …

Nobody expects to read a bunch lies on the Huffington Post, and Arianna should be proud of that expectation. That said, HuffPo needs to cut out the half-baked medical speculation because, frankly, doctors and scientists should be busy with other things besides trying to set the record straight time and again. And if Evans, Fitzgerald and other’s posts are meant as discussion starters, maybe HuffPo — “The Internet Newspaper” — or even the real newspaper isn’t the right place. After all, people actually read that stuff.