Government to Press: No More 'Swine'

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack is doing his best to get the media to start referring to the swine flu as "H1N1" -- even going so far as to have a press conference yesterday.

But I find it troubling that the U.S. government is attempting to tell the press what to do.

Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan disagreed that it would be problematic for the media to drop the inaccurate name tag.

"There may be some bridging you have to do ... but I think that most of the American public has heard 'H1N1.' We have seen it written in your articles. We have heard it on the radio," she said. "So I don't think, unless there is massive amnesia out there, that people won't pick up on what you are trying to convey if you switch to the more appropriate nomenclature."

Ironically the story about Vilsack's press conference was reported in a Wall Street Journal blog post. The headline? "Tom Vilsack on the Trouble with 'Swine' Flu."

(Photo of rescued pigs living at Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary courtesy of Jenny Brown.)