In today's article, journalist Connie Howard writes a story so simple and so straightforward it boggles the mind why it hadn't been written yet.
On February 2, 2010, the medical journal Lancet retracted their publication of a 1998 paper authored by Andrew Wakefield, MD. If you read major news coverage about this controversy, you would think Wakefield was the devil himself, a shamelessly greedy excuse of a man who used children unethically for personal financial gains. You would also note that in none of these articles did they give Dr. Wakefield a chance to defend himself. In none of the articles did anyone question potential conflicts of interest of those who are condemning him. No, it has been a vilify-Wakefield-fest from start to finish.
Large media conglomerates often do that. They jump on a hatred wagon, usually driven by the elite and powerful, and go hunting with their pitchforks and torches. I don't know what they are teaching journalism majors in school nowadays, but there is as much journalistic integrity in burning someone at the stake as there is in commercials and advertisements.
All I can say is, WOW. Thank you, Ms. Connie Howard, for telling the other side of the story, no matter how unpopular. Thank you, Vue Weekly, for having the courage to publish it.
No comments:
Post a Comment