Scientific Totalitarianism at the BBC
By John Stone
In our era of news management it is not unusual that the most significant events happen almost silently and with virtually no public debate or attention. Thus it was that yesterday the BBC Trust launched a report written by geneticist Steve Jones which will lead to the complete shutdown of the reporting of scientific controversy. The only trace you will find of this publication on the BBC news website is a well-buried report entitled ‘BBC praised for science coverage’. While this document is politically and ideologically horrific on a much wider front it is worth looking at Prof Jones’s response to the MMR issue.
In case you hadn’t guessed Jones’s criticism of the BBC’s coverage was that it was insufficiently one sided, although no one can remember a time when their reporting was ever less than prejudiced and hostile to vaccine damage families or Andrew Wakefield, and very often pitched at the crassest level. Notably, Jones recommends that British GP Richard Halvorsen, who actually runs a private vaccine clinic and only advocates a little selectivity and caution with the use of vaccines, should not be allowed to speak on the subject of MMR vaccines again. The irony that Halvorsen has written a copiously researched book on vaccines which shows less than a “four legs, two legs bad”devotion to them, and almost certainly knows vastly more about the subject that Prof Jones, seems to have escaped him. The reality that the science in this area is anything but definitive may not now be reported: only apparently the consensus view (based on no science at all) that they are all fine and without hazards.
Unfortunately (and the vaccine issue could stand in for many others here) what this above all else fails to do is to acknowledge the fallibility of human institutions. In effect, the BBC are handing over to industrial and business lobbies and saying ‘Thou must not question’. This for instance includes GM foods which are presently completely shunned by the British population, and perfectly reasonable questions about the long-term effects of these products are to be swept aside. From now on we are simply to be told what to think.
Jenny Allen:
Replies like that makes my blood boil.
A work of fiction and they admitted it! Mother takes a diet to the extreme! Shows they have not got a clue how it is in the trenches. A Mom that could get a kid to toe the line on a diet to such an extreme is a woman that could also walk on water!
No scientific proof???
Where have they been, under a rock?
What about John Hopkins report on the Atkin's diet of 15 carbs a day or slow release carbs diet of as much a 60 carbs a day for eplipesy - autism,and alizheimers.
What about Scientific American Magazine that writes lots of articles on Celiac Disease.
What about the Vasculities Foundation, the arthritis foundation all that say stop the white flour and sugar.
The ninth level of hell is waiting for those at the BBC that did this. The ninth level is for what - betrayers. Well betrayers they are for they betrayed thier profession.
They can not be that stupid????
Posted by: Benedetta | July 23, 2011 at 09:12 AM
Australia
Click link below and see organic farmer take legal action against GM farmer.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-01-13/organic-farmer-to-sue-over-gm-contamination/1904328
Elizabeth-AussieMum
Posted by: AussieMum | July 23, 2011 at 05:35 AM
AoA readers might be interested in my response to the BBC's letter (below). As far as I remember the programme did not mention MMR at all just 'vaccines', so you might wonder where the programme production team got all that information from. I expect GSK had a hand in this, (thanks Jake!!)The 'chelation, which invoved the mother administering highly dangerous grapefruit seeds!!....was NEVER explained or followed up on the programme but of course, MMR never contained any mercury!!
Dear Casualty Team,
Thank you for your reply. My complaint was NOT specifically about the Wakefield MMR autism controversy, which continues to run and run, but rather about the way that gluten/casein free diets apeared to be portrayed on this programme as potentially harmful, or even dangerous.. These diets are often medically prescribed for all kinds of medical conditions and are not at all harmful. I still think that some kind of reassurance should be broadcast to allay fears that some parents may have about their childrens' special diets as a result of this programme.
I appreciate that the characters are fictional, but some persons do identify with them. I AM a fan of the programme but you do have a collective duty to broadcast responsibly.
Best wishes
Jennifer
Posted by: Jenny Allan | July 23, 2011 at 05:04 AM
You are quite right John. The BBC is already ridiculously one sided. This is particularly reprehensible since the BBC is SUPPOSED to be free of political and commercial interest bias. It is funded by a licence fee, which everyone in the UK pays who has a TV.
This is the full response I received after an complaint about an episode of the BBC 1 medical series 'Casualty'. It involved a completely mad mother of an autistic child who blamed vaccines for the child's condition. The programme makers built 'chelation' (virtually unheard of in the UK), and a gluten/casein free diet into the script. The mother was told by a doctor that she had 'nearly killed her son' by 'depriving' him of calcium. He was given an 'emergency' calcium infusion which 'saved' his life. I am quite sure this quite ridiculous scenario has NEVER EVER happened to a UK child on a casein free diet. Milk is NOT the only source of calcium and most milk substitutes are Ca fortified. As for Gluten free, alternatives to wheat flour are just as nutritious and most importantly HARMLESS. I accused the Casualty Team of being irresponsible, since many children are allergic to milk and sufferers of coeliac disease must avoid gluten. I expected the BBC to put out a reassuring message to these persons. They never did!!
NOTE they mention THAT Madson epidemiological study on MMR which involved Poul Thorsen, now indicted in the US on counts of fraud and mnoney laundering!!
The following is the BBC's reply to me:-
"Dear Mrs Allan
Thank you for contacting us regarding the episode of CASUALTY which aired on 27th November 2010.
Below is a response from the production team:
“We’re sorry if you were upset by our portrayal of autism and the issues surrounding it in this recent episode of CASUALTY.
We work extensively with medical health professionals and also specific charities and organisations when putting together the medical content of our storylines.
Our depiction of characters is a creative choice and does not represent any one specific real individual or case study. Alison and Ben Farthing were entirely fictional. Our show was meant to depict a well-meaning mother who had taken the diet, which she felt may be helpful, to an extreme for the purposes of creating a dramatic storyline. This caused the child other problems as a result. While our editorial team are aware that most carers would not do this, it is conceivable that it could occur. While some carers of autistic individuals may feel that diet is helpful, this again has no scientific backing.
Our character Dr Ruth Winters responded to the patient in a particular manner due to the personal problems she is going through with her husband and colleagues. Once again, regular viewers will understand that Ruth's reaction to this mother and son are much more about her own problems than any judgement she places on them.
Taking advice from practicing medical experts we found the following research that supported our story. That although autism became a centre of controversy in 1998, after the article suggesting a connection between autism and the MMR vaccine by Wakefield, Murch and Anthony was published in the Lancet, this idea has subsequently been shown to have been a false alarm. This is a hugely emotive subject which is why she dramatised two sides to the story - that of a medical professional and a parent who have concerns about MMR.
There have been several studies since which have provided extremely strong evidence against the notion that the increasing rates of autism were due to the MMR vaccination. For example there was a study in Denmark by Madsen, Hviid and Vestergaard, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2002 involving more than 500,000 children, which showed no link between the two. There is also now evidence that strongly suggests that the recent ‘epidemic’ of diagnosed autism is most likely to be due to a change in the way in which autism is diagnosed plus a greater awareness of the condition amongst both healthcare professionals and the general public.
We hope this reply addresses your concerns and assures you that we didn’t approach this subject lightly.
Best Wishes
The Casualty production team”
Posted by: Jenny Allan | July 22, 2011 at 04:51 PM
On the subject of GM food, it appears the latest technology is unregulated - who exactly is qualified to discuss the subject on the BBC if industry is the sole source of the 'science'?
A new technology used to create a genetically modified (GM) version of Kentucky bluegrass prompted the USDA to announce on July 1 that it has no authority over the plant’s regulation, reports Nature.
Rules currently in place that give the US Department of Agriculture regulatory authority over GM plants are based on the Federal Plant Pest Act, passed in 1957, which was actually designed to protect agricultural crops from foreign disease infestations. But the Act was adopted for GM plant regulation because the techniques used in their modification involve the use of viruses and tumor-causing bacteria, such as the bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens, which transports genes that confer disease resistance into plant genomes. Genetic elements derived from plant viruses are then used to turn these genes on.
In the case of a GM Kentucky bluegrass, however, which is designed by the lawn-care company Scotts Miracle-Gro to be resistant to the herbicide glyphosate, selected genes were attached to metal particles and shot into plant cells by a relatively new method. The genes are then turned on by the plant’s own genetic elements. Because no bacteria or viruses are used, the Federal Plant Pest Act no longer dictates how the crop should be regulated.
By stepping around current regulations, Scotts hopes to expedite the process of bringing their product to market, according to a Nature editorial.
“The Plant Pest Act was completely inappropriate for regulating biotech crops,” Bill Freese, science-policy analyst at the Center for Food Safety in Washington DC, told Nature. “Now we can foresee this loophole getting wider and wider as companies turn more to plants and away from bacteria and other plant-pest organisms.”
Posted by: GH | July 22, 2011 at 04:36 PM
Reminds me of “The Boat that Rocked.” For readers who missed it: In 1966 the BBC nixed rock ‘n’ roll. A pirate radio ship, anchored in international waters, broadcast The Rolling Stones and other banned bands to a young UK generation. The BBC could not hold back the tide.
In 2003 Mick Jagger was knighted.
Keep those pirate articles coming, John. Sir Andy Wakefield's day -- and ours -- will follow.
Posted by: Dan E. Burns - SavingBenBook.com | July 22, 2011 at 12:51 PM
The most telling quote is at the bottom of page 72: 'Unlike the deniers, scientists accept that they could be wrong'. That is true to a fair degree in academia, but not on the outside. When he discusses presenting established science in the fields of GM food, vaccines, and global warming, all subjects dominated by politics and financial interest, with no mention of how science is funded in those fields, he displays his innocence for all to see.
Posted by: GH | July 22, 2011 at 11:08 AM
Is there a link to this report?
Posted by: Sue | July 22, 2011 at 10:49 AM
Dick
Very clear that industry and the Whitehall bureacrats wield an influence over BBC science broadcasting which politicians could only dream of.
Posted by: John Stone | July 22, 2011 at 08:28 AM
Mindless where do they get these peole from an endless line of so called professionals only to willing to ruber stamp anything that obviously comes from Pharma via the stock exchange...
"AppealsIf you feel the BBC isn't living up to the highest standards you have the right to complain to the BBC Executive"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/about/complaints_appeals/index.shtml
''
Posted by: Angus Files | July 22, 2011 at 08:05 AM
Since the News Corp. phone hacking scandal, one thing has become increasing clear: the U.K. more than holds its own when it comes to corruption in government and media institutions.
Thank you, Rupert.
P.S.: And guess what? In Pakistan, vaccinations are indeed a CIA plot. Evidently the CIA carried out a false flag Hep B scare and vaccination program in order to obtain the DNA of Osama Bin Laden:
http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2011/07/bin-laden-vaccine
Posted by: David Taylor | July 22, 2011 at 08:01 AM
If the BBC wants quiet, then the BBC can shut up.
In 'A Time For Choosing' Ronald Reagan quipped, "They've just declared Rice County, Kansas, a depressed area. Rice County, Kansas, has two hundred oil wells, and the 14,000 people there have over 30 million dollars on deposit in personal savings in their banks. And when the government tells you you're depressed, lie down and be depressed."
And when the government tells you you're a crazy parent, lie down and be crazy.
Posted by: kerboblog Strikes Again | July 22, 2011 at 07:53 AM
From Dr. Dick van Steenis MBBS Monmouth UK
The BBC also has been hiding ONS & other data they were supplied (with proofs), of huge health damage from UK incinerators. They also hid the huge savings of some £855 billion from the USEPA regulating PM2.5 air pollution in USA in recent years. PM2.5 pollution is not regulated in the UK despite the EC directive put into UK law July 2000. The UK Health Protection Agency fairy stories based on wild estimates instead of data are taken as fact instead of the fiction all their statements comprise.
Posted by: Dr. Dick van Steenis MBBS | July 22, 2011 at 07:49 AM