Science and Health Journalism

Wikizines are interactive magazines that anyone can create or edit - and this one is called "Science and Health Journalism". Here you can find fresh voices and respond in real time. Some members write articles about recent news and trends related to the wikizine's topic, others recount relevant personal stories or share their favorite pictures and video clips. Got an interesting idea or story to share with other members of this wikizine? Well, then put on your journalist's cap and add your... Read Full Story

A BBC Report on the MMR vaccine has no link to JABS and no quote from any JABS spokesperson. Good. The piece also accurately reports that the study which raised the possibility that MMR could be linked to autism has since been dismissed and points out that measles can be fatal – i.e., failing to immunise leaves children at actual risk of serious illness as opposed to the hypothetical risk proposed by Andrew Wakefield’s research that turned out not to be a risk at all (partly because... Read Full Story

The Bad Science blog has a category titled Cash for “Stories” and the Apathy Sketchpad blog has recently covered equations in The Telegraph and the Daily Mail. It occurs to me that, rather than demeaning science and making media whores of academics (usually mathemeticians or scientists as far as I can tell), the firms buying science for cheap publicity could actually get publicity and make themselves look good by sponsoring worthwhile research. Instead of commissioning a group of scientists... Read Full Story

Measles is endemic, Wakefield is up before the GMC and the media are walking away nonchalantly, pretending they were never involved. It appears that the MMR scaremongering has ground (or at least is slowly grinding) to a halt. Unfortunately, the damage has been done and measles is back [see bottom of page for more links]. I’ve written before about the media’s major role in this scare, the scapegoating of Andrew Wakefield (who should still be held to account for his part in the scare... Read Full Story