Yeah, it is super ugly. I'm assuming the journalist is not used to writing about vaccines, as the LA Times usually does a good job at it.
I like to send on @CBrainard's CJR piece, but I'm not sure how it would land.https://archives.cjr.org/feature/sticking_with_the_truth.php …
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The author is on twitter:
@MelodyGutierrez I was under impression by journalist contacts that the memo on avoiding false balance wrt vaccines got around ages ago. With SB276 in the news & a record yr for measles cases, this is a prime example of types of unhelpful stories.2 replies 1 retweet 5 likes -
Replying to @RMCarpiano @latimes and
I am interested in hearing from the journalist about why she approached the piece the way she did. It's pretty good publicity for Dr. Bob, that's for sure.
4 replies 1 retweet 6 likes -
Replying to @Voices4Vaccines @RMCarpiano and
I've covered vaccine related stories for several years and typically am criticized by those opposed to SB277 and SB276. I set out to write a story about what makes Bob Sears appealing to some and seen as dangerous to most others.
4 replies 1 retweet 0 likes -
Replying to @MelodyGutierrez @Voices4Vaccines and
But here also, your tweet demonstrates a "both-sides-ism" that mirrors your story's framing/structure. More than enough evid. at this point that Sears' views/actions not on same level w/ med. & public health experts. His troubles w/ Med Board of CA not stated until 3/4's in.
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Replying to @RMCarpiano @Voices4Vaccines and
The Med Board probation/investigation being too far down is a fair criticism. My thinking was we have written a lot about those cases. The question I was attempting to answer is what makes him appealing to some and dangerous to most, which isn't his license status, it's his views
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Replying to @MelodyGutierrez @RMCarpiano and
I think the fear that most of us vaccine advocates have is that this will validate the anti-vax viewpoint. He is already achieving Wakefield type status (discredited, but worshipped by anti-vaxxers, probably making more $$ now than he did as a liscened physician with appearances)
1 reply 0 retweets 4 likes -
Replying to @ProVaxx2 @MelodyGutierrez and
It's also an unfortunate trope that journalists seem to love the rogue, the "brave maverick" (even if he's wrong), and thus like to do profiles that try to see what "makes him tick" or what "makes him so controversial."
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The problem is that such profiles, at least when done of science denialisms like antivaxers, virtually demand false balance, which, alas, this story has in spades. What do I mean?
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One glaring example is how Sears' quotes about whether or not vaccines can cause autism were juxtaposed with
@DrPaulOffit's statements in a "he said/she said" sort of manner. By juxtaposing a real scientist with a crank like Sears, the article elevated Sears to Offit's level.1 reply 0 retweets 4 likes
That is the very definition of false balance in an article about a scientific topic, particularly when coupled with how there wasn't even a mention of the medical board's sanctions against Sears and its current investigation until nearly ¾ of the way into the article.
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Similarly, the part Sears' brother portrays him as "research-driven" only serves to make it sound as though Sears' antivaccine beliefs are based on a reasonable interpretation of the research, when they clearly are not.
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So, the juxtaposition of Sears' quotes with Offit's quotes, coupled with the bit about Sears being "research-driven" implies to the reader that there is a legitimate scientific controversy over whether vaccines cause autism, when there is not.
1 reply 0 retweets 5 likes - Show replies
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