United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) is considering an international ban on vaccines containing thimerosal, a type of ethylmercury.
Presumably, Ellis Conklin was trying to be funny when he reported in the Seattle Weekly that “Sushi Could Make Us Dumber Than Breadsticks.” What’s really dumb is believing that a notorious activist group with a single-minded anti-mercury agenda is an objective authority on anything involving science.
Readers should expect only the best journalism from the Washington Post, a Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper; and Slate.com, a recipient of the prestigious National Magazine Award for General Excellence. Or, at the very least, they should expect clear, accurate and reliable reporting. Yet that’s not what they’re getting.
The Doctors television show hopes to “supply viewers with critical information to make informed and intelligent health care decisions.”
But can the program, which is hosted by former Bachelor reality TV star Dr. Travis Stork and features three other telegenic professionals, really be considered a serious authority if it all too frequently promotes the latest diet trends, health fads and bogus medical claims?
So, we noticed some changes in the offending Washington Post report and reached out to the Ombudsman again with some of our on going concerns. Here's the latest:
November 27, 2012
Mr.Patrick Pexton
Ombudsman
Washington Post
Dear Mr. Pexton
Carolyn Butler’s article in The Washington Post, “Eating fish is wise, but it’s good to know where your seafood comes from,” takes good news about the health benefits of eating seafood and buries it under a cascade of frightening precautionary warnings.
Food reporter, Michele Henry, writes in today’s Toronto Star: “Choosing to put fish on your dinner plate might seem like a smart, healthy, even responsible choice. But surrounding these creatures is a roiling sea of controversy…”
No there’s not.
A few weeks back, NFI issued “A Call for Responsibility” to end journalists’ reckless and lazy practices of colluding with agenda-driven activists, distorting scientific truth, championing inferior research and causing irrational fear among consumers.
You may have read it.
“His ignorance was as remarkable as his knowledge.”
-- Sherlock Holmes, “A Study in Scarlett” (1887)
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes series, must have been turning in his grave Thursday night when the latest episode of “Elementary” aired on CBS.
The character of “Watson,” played by Lucy Liu, remarks: “I was thinking sushi tonight.”
Mainstream researchers, doctors and dietitians agree that fringe eco-gurus who promote mercury in seafood scare-stories are more and more exposed by ground truth science these days. When the extensive scientific review that went into the USDA’s Dietary Guidelines concludes that “the benefits of consuming seafood far outweigh the risks, even for pregnant women” the debate is pretty much over.