As I noted before, My fax complaining that Ms. Attkisson missed the big story in the autism/vaccine discussion just about the same time she was posting on exactly that story (the Hornig MMR paper).
Ms Atkisson’s blog post is titled
New Study Disproves Vaccine/MMR/Autism Link
Wow. I didn’t expect to see that from Ms. Attkisson.
Below is the full extent of Ms. Attkisson’s contribution to the piece
There’s a new study in the Public Library of Science regarding vaccine measles and autism which purports to disprove a vaccine/MMR/autism link.
Also, researchers at ThoughtfulHouse wrote an opposing analysis:
She then posts the ThoughtfulHouse press release. No kidding, of the blog piece, 90% (an estimate on my part) of the words are written by someone else! And, not even the researchers involved.
Dang. Recently we have seen a lack of homework on the Dr. Offit conflict of interest story, and now this.
At least there was some effort put into the story on Dr. Offit.
What happened to the CBS I grew up with? I can’t see Walter Cronkite getting paid for “Richard Nixon has resigned in disgrace. Now, here is Mr. Nixon’s press release verbatim.”
Left Brain Right Brain 
I wonder if she’s just having others write the blog posts for her? Why bother writing something if one isn’t going to bother to think about something but instead is just going to unthinkingly regurgitate what someone said. I can’t say I knew Walter Cronkite, but I’m 49 years old and I remember him. Sharyl Atkisson is no Walter Cronkite, Lambchop, maybe….http://www.geocities.com/EnchantedForest/Tower/7873/shari.html
It’s a sad day when professional investigative reporting gets to this level. I think Sharyl Attkisson should go to work for Age of Autism, and CBS should hire Kathleen Seidel in her place.
Anne’s suggestion is brilliant.
I have to agree. On her best day, Sharyl Attkisson doesn’t have the depth that Kathleen Seidel (neurodiversity.com) has on her worst day.
Hate to say it, but the comparison to Lambchop does her (the puppet) a disservice.
I put in another vote for Kathleen.
kristina said “Hate to say it, but the comparison to Lambchop does her (the puppet) a disservice.”
I agree. I loved Shari Lewis and her puppets. First as a kid, and then with my kids (we have actual hand puppets for Charley Horse, Hush Puppy and Lamb Chop).
Have to agree that AofA is probably just the place for reporting like this. You might notice that one of today’s entries over there (the one that asks the specious question “What if autism were contagious?”) is apparently a barely updated rerun of a column contributed by the same writer to HuffPost seven months ago. (Check
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kim-stagliano/what-if-autism-were-conta_b_86150.html )
That seems a bit lax even for their standards. But then this is a site whose “managing editor” recently wrote and posted a detailed ad pitch for one of their sponsors. I haven’t known many managing editors whose job includes writing puff pieces about advertisers, but i guess under that maverick Dan Olmsted this Web “newspaper” just has different ideas about journalistic principles ‘n’ stuff.
I’m sorry for dragging Lambchop into this. I also loved Lambchop. And Topo Gigio.
And I agree with Anne’s suggestion of CBS hiring a real investigative reporter, Kathleen Seidel and exiling the Atkisson woman to the AoA blob.
I loved Shari Lewis’s schtick, even though she inflicted upon the world “the most deliberately annoying song ever written”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_song_that_never_ends right when my kids were just the right age to drive me UP THE WALL with it.
Actually I find Shari and Lambchop’s ditty to be a rather good summing up of the situation. Every time a study comes out and is rhetorically dismissed by those in the vaccines-causes-autism camp, I find myself ruefully singing, “This is the song that never ends; it just goes on and on my friends, some people started singing it, not knowing what it was, and they’ll continue singing it forever just because…”
Sad…. true, and sad, I hope at least that fewer and fewer people keep singing it.
“This ‘controversy’ never ends; it just goes on and on my friends, some parents started singing it, not knowing what it was, and they’ll continue singing it forever just because…”