Dachel Media Update: The Concerted Media Thrashing of Jenny McCarthy
By Anne Dachel
July 17, 2013, Fox News: Jenny McCarthy's hiring on 'The View' prompts backlash, boycott calls
July 16, 2013, Salon.com: Dear ABC: Putting Jenny McCarthy on "The View" will kill children
July 16, 2013, KOMO News Seattle: Local doc hopes McCarthy keeps mum about medicine on 'The View'
July 16, 2013, National Geographic: One Thing We Know About Autism: Vaccines Aren't to Blame
July 16, 2013, Forbes: What Jenny McCarthy Should Do Before Her Debut On 'The View'
July 16, 2013, First Coast News (FL): McCarthy's 'View' on vaccines
July 16, 2013, USA Today: McCarthy's view on vaccines stirs 'View' controversy
Fox News
"Jenny McCarthy is blonde, beautiful, a former Playboy playmate, a published author, a prominent comedic actress, and a Weight Watchers spokesperson. So why is the announcement that the 40-year-old will replace Elisabeth Hasslebeck as a co-host on ABC's "The View" in September causing such an outcry?
"One word: vaccines.
"McCarthy has long been an outspoken opponent of vaccinating children, claiming that her 11-year-old son's diagnosis with autism in 2005 was due to his baby vaccinations....
"And according to Los Angeles-based health and wellness expert, Heather Lounsbury of Live Natural Live Well, McCarthy has every right to express her opinions.
"'People just don't want to hear that their doctors might be wrong or that pharmaceuticals can be dangerous. While I'm not a fan of vaccines, I understand parents wanting to give them to their children,' she added. 'But Jenny has personal experience with autism and should be allowed to share her story without fear.'"
Fox did something I'm not seeing in any other coverage of the JENNY McCARTHY--THE VIEW story. They quoted someone who said that she has a right to express her opinion.
"People just don't want to hear..." Really, watch an evening of TV. "Have you or a loved taken the drug XXX and suffered....? Contact the law firm of XXX You may be entitled to compensation...." Why can't it also be true about vaccines? Is it that the implications are just too horrible to consider?
Salon.com
"McCarthy is not expressing a disagreeable political position, she is spreading misinformation that has actual, tangible health risks. America's public health authorities should be sounding the alarm. The American Medical Association and the surgeon general should be publicly calling on ABC to reverse its decision to hire McCarthy. They should have begun the campaign before the announcement was official....
"If you care about keeping misinformation - misinformation that could hurt or kill not just the children of people who intentionally don't vaccinate but other children as well - from being transmitted to people everywhere in the country every weekday, you should probably write ABC a polite note expressing your dismay. You should also, and this may be more effective, contact your senator and member of Congress and urge them to publicly criticize this hire. Parents and pediatricians, especially, should be loudly complaining."
Alex Pareene stops at nothing to vilify Jenny McCarthy and rally the people against her being allowed on 'The View.' I posted comments.
KOMO News Seattle
"McCarthy drew attention from the medical community in 2007 with claims that her son Evan's autism was caused by childhood immunizations. For years she spoke out in support of Dr. Andrew Wakefield, whose work was later called an "elaborate fraud" by the British medical journal BMJ. She is also president of Generation Rescue, a nonprofit providing assistance to families affected by autism.
"The View has received significant backlash since Monday's announcement from those concerned McCarthy now has a new platform for dishing out medical advice. There have been several online campaigns urging the show to reconsider their hiring."
That evil Jenny McCarthy! If she gets on "The View" children will die. Honestly, I can't believe the coverage. Everywhere in the country, stories are slamming her. I can only imagine how much effort is behind this! I POSTED COMMENTS!
National Geographic
"It all started with bad science. The now-debunked theory that autism is caused by the common immunizations nearly all children receive beginning in infancy began with a fabricated piece of research, a 1998 study published-and later retracted-in the journal Lancet. In 2010, Great Britain stripped Andrew Wakefield, the lead author of the study, of his medical license. An investigation had deemed his research an elaborate fraud.
"Maybe, just maybe, Jenny McCarthy won't even mention autism and vaccines from her new perch on The View. That's the hope of Paul Offit, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. 'In a more rational world, this discussion would be un-reopenable,' Offit says. 'The answerable questions have all been answered.' It's not the vaccine, or anything in the vaccine. It's not the number or timing of vaccinations. Scientifically, he says, we know that."
Who isn't slamming Jenny McCarthy at this moment? Here was a great chance to post comments.
Forbes
"What we'd like to see, before McCarthy joins 'The View'-she reportedly debuts September 9-is for her to chill her vaccine and autism stance and publicly state what the evidence demonstrates: She was wrong about both. After all, there's a mountain of evidence that supports that view."
WOW. This sounds like "reeducation" in the old Soviet Union. So Jenny McCarthy is supposed to repent of her past transgressions and forget about what happened to her son.
First Coast News (FL)
"About one in four adults said they were familiar with McCarthy's views about vaccines, according to a USA TODAY/Gallup poll taken in 2008. Of those adults, 40% said her claims made them more likely to question vaccine safety...
"After reading McCarthy's books, Meghan Dawson decided to take her two autistic children to Jerry Kartzinel, who co-wrote a book with McCarthy and treated the actress' son."
Liz Szabo at USA Today wrote this. Jerry Kartzinel is just a guy McCarthy wrote a book with. We're not told he's a doctor with his own autistic son. More cover-up from Szabo.
USA Today
"In recent years, McCarthy has become as well-known for her claims that vaccines cause autism as for her roles as a late-night host on VH1 and a 1993 Playboy model.
"McCarthy, a best-selling author, has blamed vaccines for causing her son, Evan, to develop autism."
Autism Speaks sees no connection between vaccines and autism... SO WHAT'S THE CAUSE? Oh, that's right...fat, drinking, smoking, druggie moms with bad genes and deadly antibodies. All the science that Autism Speaks is happy to fund. I posted comments.
Love Jenny McCarthy-great choice Babs!!! This woman is whip-smart, funny , a talented writer, honest & open-minded, a loving Mother, courageous, passionate, & unafraid to speak the truth about vaccines' harm by triggering autism in those children genetically pre-disposed or CNS/brain compromised or immune compromised or somehow previously toxin-exposed or injured; making their bodies unable to properly & harmlessly process these usually well-received but clearly (toxin-laden) vaccines (to some little bodies), & likely because of an inherent failing to smoothly elicit the proper immune response needed/required to work safely & successfully. Vaccines trigger Autism in some children & it is a no-brainer to most of their parents. When the Medical Establishment finally accepts that kids now need prior integrative medical evaluation of individual body function/genetics/immune system status, CNS/Brain system status & basic health status testing; these cases of vaccine triggers will continue on. Another word that applies is MONEY!! Jenny is a "tiger" Mother who I respect & admire because she did not ever give up & offered the world of current & future parents a wealth of information that many will someday be grateful for. Trusting Medicine at all costs will cost you!! Jenny is the Rachel Carson of Autism!! A pioneer Lady:) Thanks Jenny. You go girl on the View!!!!
Posted by: Holly LeGros | July 22, 2013 at 10:51 AM
These hate comments depress me to no end. What happened to people politely agreeing to disagree? But as a result of reading all the crap about Jenny this past week, I felt compelled to do a blog post on the topic. I'm an autism parent and a writer, but most of my readers are not -- just concerned adults. So I played it more conservative than I would in forums such as this one. But it's out there and people are reading it. Here's the link: http://cynthiajpatton.com/2013/07/making-a-fuss-about-jenny-mccarthy-for-all-the-wrong-reasons/
Posted by: Cynthia Patton | July 20, 2013 at 04:29 PM
"Kudos to Barbara Walters who was aware of the controversy and the backlash it would bring and hired her anyway."
Am I allowed to see a bright ray of sunshine here. Me thinks we may have friends in high places. Anyone in the media certainly knows the consequences of opposing the gods of "vaccination". That this is happening at all tells me there may be forces on our side moving levers.
And that is nice for a change.
Posted by: Lou | July 19, 2013 at 02:06 AM
They are undoing themselves. The "pay no attention to that man behind the curtain" mentality is fooling less and less people these days, although the media would have you believe otherwise. Why are things like organic foods being sold at all time highs? The sicker we get, the more people will ask questions. It only takes one portal into things to get to the next level. I started researching vaccines and that led me to food, politics, health etc...There are thousands of of college kids graduating and realizing there are no jobs for them. They want to know why and in their investigations, they are finding out that nothing is as it appears. All it takes is a personal nightmare for some to wake up to the reality of the need and right to question things. Anyone writing such spew as to say a child deserves harm will raise a brow even if no one has the balls to admit it online or in public. IMHO, Jenny should decline the view- stating her beliefs are more important than the financial incentives of the show. That would be great to watch!!!!
Posted by: angie | July 18, 2013 at 08:27 PM
Its awful. I've lost a forum which I used to speak to moms on over this issue. I wish they would stop picking on her, its not like she made up her story, or that she's the only one in the world saying such things. It has to stop.
Posted by: Robyn | July 18, 2013 at 08:08 PM
If not so vindictive, the outrage would seem funny....for a show called "The View" don't we want alternative view points? Shouldn't we???
Posted by: 4Bobby | July 18, 2013 at 10:22 AM
I could see "f-off and die" as to some commments directed at Anne. They are off the deep end. Orac is actively promoting blacklisting. And is it just me or does he have some weird obsession with Jenny? I told my kids that "Science"blogs are industry-driven trash and now anyone who looks can see this.
Posted by: Jen | July 18, 2013 at 09:24 AM
A message for the likes of Paul Offit and his ilk , and their mandatory vaccine ideas !
"Force always attracts men of low morality." ~ Albert Einstein
Posted by: White Rose | July 18, 2013 at 08:40 AM
A comment I just put up on Salon.com:-
I wonder who really "spreads lies that hurt people"? It is very easy for government bureaucrats to negate the experiences of tens of thousands of people of whom Jenny is one. You have a defective system - the people who run the policy are responsible for monitoring it. Indeed, the monitoring never takes place. No one routinely counts the adverse events, no one follows them up (and look what they did to Andrew Wakefield when he tried). The bureaucrats are also in the pockets of the industry, and it is the greatest boondoggle the earth has ever seen: everyone has to have the products, the list on products goes on rising, and worst of all there is no liability. Meanwhile, 54% of US children suffer from chronic illnesses and 1 in 6 has a developmental impairment.
Then you get this obscene hue and cry against Jenny - one of the very few people in public life to stand their ground against the bullies.
The reality is that 50 years ago - before most of this started - we did not have high child mortality in the developed world, and it is not clear this was the best route to its further reduction. The system was only sustainable by ruthless assertion and denial by the authorities with an ever increasing toll of silent victims.
John Stone, UK Editor, www.ageofautism.com
Posted by: John Stone | July 18, 2013 at 05:39 AM
The McCarthy witch-hunt trials all over again .
We need to come out and support her ....in numbers .
Posted by: White Rose | July 18, 2013 at 03:34 AM
What's being advocated here is censorship. There can be no discussion on this topic. Emotions run too deep. Vaccines are now at the level of abortion or civil rights in the 1960s.
But this puts the debate out there again. Parents' fears will only increase. More questions will be asked. STUDIES SHOW NO LINK no longer satisfies the public. I can see more and more erosion of trust in the vaccine program. The risks are simply too great to meekly hand over our children. I think mainstream medicine understands this very well. WHAT IF PARENTS SIMPLY STOP VACCINATING?
Posted by: Anne Dachel | July 18, 2013 at 01:26 AM
Kudos to Barbara Walters who was aware of the controversy and the backlash it would bring and hired her anyway. I think we should also write ABC and tell them "Thank you!" as well as "Don't you dare think about going back on this!"
Posted by: TLS | July 18, 2013 at 12:45 AM
Everyone needs to post some comments to as many of these articles as you can. The flood of propaganda is terrible - it needs to be opposed.
Posted by: Twyla | July 17, 2013 at 11:26 PM
Thank you for taking on these imbeciles, Anne. I don't know how you do it and maintain your sanity, but I admire you all the more when I see the crap you have to put up with in the comments sections. I agree, the hate is intensifying because they know they're losing, so they resort to middle school bullying tactics. Pathetic, really.
Posted by: BJ | July 17, 2013 at 11:18 PM
We couldn't have gotten this much publicity with 25 million dollars of PR. Today, millions of Americans have been reminded that vaccines have risks, too.
Thanks Amy Pisani and Pharma for a brilliant, and unsuccessful, PR attack!!
Posted by: JB Handley | July 17, 2013 at 10:48 PM
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win"
- Mahatma Gandhi
Anne, I know you have been reading the attack crap for some time and I know it is like water off your back. I am sure Jenny is thinking the same thing this week. I see the rise in vitriol as many do - a clue that they have already lost.
When I think of people like you and Jenny I am reminded of another Gandhi quote -
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world"
I thank you for you daily work to educate others about the media's role regarding the public perception of autism.
Posted by: Tim Kasemodel | July 17, 2013 at 08:44 PM
I think Jenny should consult an attorney. She hasn't done anything illegal (quite the contrary, she has helped thousands), but is having her reputation smeared in a big way.
Posted by: Linda | July 17, 2013 at 07:55 PM
It will be a very sad and embarrassing day for our country if this campaign is successful. The world is watching.
Posted by: Linda | July 17, 2013 at 07:17 PM
Apparently some knuckle-dragging, mouth-breathing humans haven't evolved beyond the mentality of "I don't understand it, so I'm going to kill it."
Posted by: nhokkanen | July 17, 2013 at 06:50 PM
I just read the Salon comment. I am dismayed, but not surprised. When people have no arguments, they start getting their language all out of proportion. I can only say: Keep doing what you are doing, regardless! The swearwords are there because these people's reasoning is faltering. Maybe they are mercury-impaired
Posted by: Birgit Calhoun | July 17, 2013 at 06:47 PM