ABC's Claire Shipman and Katty Kay Spank Newsweek On HuffPo
Click HERE to read and comment on ABC's Claire Shipman and Katty Kay's HuffPo, "Did Anyone Else Think The Newsweek Photo of Oprah Was Misogynistic? And Just Plain Dumb?"
Last year we at ABC news ran a series on autism, and new methods being used to diagnose it which are--to say the least--controversial. The medical community and established autism community tried hard to get us to kill the report--which suggested (gasp)--that it might be a good idea to actually look at the brains of kids who are thought to be autistic. Do MRIs and EEGs. Hardly a stretch, and there is a growing body of evidence that autism is such a huge catch-all phrase that kids need more diagnosis. A number of prominent neurologists now believe it helps to look at the brain, especially to rule out seizure disorder, which can often produce autistic symptoms, and which is treatable. (That's what McCarthy found, among other things, by the way, when she decided to trust her instincts instead of conventional wisdom.)
But because this sort of diagnosis is expensive, and because it goes against the more established, behavioral method of diagnosing kids, we had to fight to get this on the air. Especially because there were no formal and conclusive studies. Not because nobody wants to do them--all of the top doctors say they need to be done. But nobody has put the money forward to get them done. So every time I asked--why should we wait? Why should I have access to this information but nobody else until 10 years from now when study is finally complete? Nobody could give me a good answer. In any event, I experienced the wrath of the establishment firsthand.
The fact is we just don't know about this stuff yet. Nobody wants to admit that. The medical community has a hard time admitting what we don't know, but there is plenty we don't know about autism, and the staggering rise in cases. Surely that is obvious to everyone. That's why a top doctor at Harvard who works on these issues told me he thinks there has to be a link between vaccines andsome of the cases of autism. Why? They don't know.
I don't normally read Newsweek (or as someone else said Week-News)but my in-laws have a sub and I picked it up from their coffee table. I was in complete SHOCK that I was reading Newsweek and not the National Enquirer. Not to even get into Bio-Med stuff but the photos and headlines were unbelievable. I am still in shock. Then, I started to read the article and within two paragraphs I realized it was a promo piece from the PHARMA companies...before I even got the part about Jenny McCarthy and autism.
I don't see the racism as much as the Sexism....these "crazy, bimbo women" has Jenny done NOTHING else in her career but been in Playboy? What about AUTHOR???? Oh, forgot that part, huh?
I know, I know we are just "crazy" people for giving our kids rice based foods, vitamins,enzymes and OH NO.....FISH OIL!!! AHHHHHH!!!! Scary, aren't we?
Posted by: Shannon Hunt | June 10, 2009 at 12:35 PM
Exactly what I thought, Julie. The article slams women. And it certainly brought out the racists online. AOL ran the article with commentary intended to get readers even more whipped up. Many of the comments that followed were very misogyous and racist.
Thanks Newsweek.
(Hey, next week why not make Brangelina your lead story?)
Posted by: sign lady | June 09, 2009 at 11:22 PM
The skeptisaurs are really punching the clock today over at huffpo comments, especially after Chopra's article taking newsweek to task for their embarrassing little hit piece. Their input is illogical, reactionary, hateful, and asinine. A few of them sound really familiar to me... like the little army of gerbils that squeal with glee as they run around inside Orac's nether region. One even mentioned the word "woo" a few times.
Let's just say if we were playing a drinking game where every time we'd have to drink when a skeptic said the word quack, woo, snake oil, dangerous, unscientific, or made a disparaging remark about Jim Carrey or Jenny McCarthy, we'd all be having our stomachs pumped in no time.
Posted by: Josh Day | June 09, 2009 at 05:25 PM
Misogynist-- and racist. The subtext of Newsweek's propaganda piece is "how dare this ignorant Negro woman question the white male establishment!" No wonder Newsweek, the NYT and the rest of corporate-owned print media are dinosaurs on their last legs. Don't let the door hit your a** on the way out!
Posted by: Julie | June 09, 2009 at 04:48 PM
It was very rewarding to read the column by these women from ABC. Newsweek went WAY too far with its cover attempting to mimic Nick Nolte's infamous hair-raising DUI mugshot.
I had laughed mightily at a previous AoA comment saying we'll soon have "one less" magazine.
Wouldn't it be great if Oprah was the first to ban pharma ads?
Posted by: nhokkanen | June 09, 2009 at 03:48 PM