A look at how journalist see, and cover, the thimerosol question

One of my favorite shows on National Public Radio is the WNYC produced On the Media, which covers how the media covers and treats the various news stories of the week. In this vein is an article from the Columbia Journalism Review, posted in its entirety at Ginger's Adventures in Autism, entitled Drug Test, by Daniel Schulman.

If you are at all interested in how/why the thimerosol issue is covered the way it is, you should read this article. If you're trying to find justification for either point of view, however, this is not the source you're looking for. While it does address the results and validity (or not) of various studies, this article itself passes no judgement either way.

The bottom line, at least what I got out of it, is that most reporters and news organizations are scared - yep, that's the right word - to even give space to the thimerosol question, much less report any supporting evidence in anything approaching a positive light.

A striking example from the recent news: As Pat Sullivan posted yesterday, USA Today had a story concerning the health benefits, and mercury risks, of eating fish. No where in the article is autism even mentioned.

Update: The article is also available on the Columbia Journalism Review site.

tagged as: Autism, Journalism, Thimerosol / Thimerosal