Lori- I never argued for censorship of the pundits. I am simply speaking out against their brand of fear mongering. I do think they bear some responsibility for their message when they are knowingly misleading the public. However, I also believe in allowing people to decide for themselves to ignore/not watch them and if enough people tune out, so do the advertisers which support such programming.

I find it interesting that now that Democrats are in control, so many people on the right are suddenly interested in free speech. This isn’t a jab at you, as I don’t know your prior stances on the subject, but rather a jab at some people I know. People who cried foul about violence on TV, The Dixie Chicks, Harry Potter and everything else which offends them or might possibly offend someone somewhere at some time. These self-appointed moralists make tons of money fund raising while trying to rid the world of everything which offends them. Way I see it, monitoring what a kid watches on TV is the parents’ job, not the government’s or the church’s. There’s even a convenient V-Chip in each TV set nowadays which allows you to filter out shows by subject matter.

I similarly recall a rather angry backlash and no support for freedom of speech for people who questioned and opposed the Iraq war in the early stages. As I recall, such people were branded traitors and terrorists and threatened with violence.

We’ve gotten way off point here, but since you touched on the subjects of free speech and censorship, I felt inclined to weigh in with some of my own thoughts and how this is not suddenly an issue just to go after the right wing pundits, as some of the pundits are incorrectly claiming.

To be frank, I’ve pretty much divorced myself from politics a while ago because I’ve seen how both sides are so incredibly corrupt. I’m pretty much jaded on the subject and maybe a bit more cynical than the average person. However, I still stand by the message of this post and that is to inform yourself, consult with your doctor and ignore the crazies (and overweight blogger dads.)

Loran & Tracy – There still are some respectable journalists out there. I know of a few personally, but unfortunately the market and politics are at odds with most Real Journalism these days.

While I agree that people have a responsibility to educate themselves, I also think that the news media has a responsibility, too. And the public at large (I include myself) has a responsibility to say enough all freaking ready and stop watching and reading the exploitative, sensationalistic garbage that’s out there.
.-= Tracy´s last blog ..Scary Products Contest Winners =-.

I am a strong advocate of teaching parents and pediatricians and others involved in the care of young children the warning signs of autism, because early intervention is so important. However, I also think it’s important that people know that a large part of the huge increase in the number of reported cases is better diagnosis and diagnosis of milder forms of the disorder like my son has.

It’s not fun to be a parent with a kid on the spectrum that went on to fully vaccinate her subsequent children. I do understand that parents who choose not to vaccinate feel that they are doing the right thing for their children, I just don’t appreciate the sheeple type comments lobbed at those of us who choose to vaccinate because we strongly believe it’s the right thing to do for our children. I’ve no idea if vaccination can trigger certain cases of autism, but I do know that children have been made blind, deaf, mentally retarded, sterile and have died from the diseases vaccinations help prevent.
.-= Tracy´s last blog ..Scary Products Contest Winners =-.

And yet, is this history repeating itself? Recall the dark days of yellow journalism. This is from Wikipedia on that:
Frank Luther Mott (1941) defines yellow journalism in terms of five characteristics:

1. scare headlines in huge print, often of minor news
2. lavish use of pictures, or imaginary drawings
3. use of faked interviews, misleading headlines, pseudo-science, and a parade of false learning from so-called experts
4. emphasis on full-color Sunday supplements, usually with comic strips (which is now normal in the U.S.)
5. dramatic sympathy with the “underdog” against the system.
–

As for seat belts, vaccines, or anything else, I am responsible for me. Not the government, not the media, not Glenn Beck, not Rachel Maddow, not my relatives. Therefore, to answer your question: I don’t think many of the news media are sources of legitimate information. They have lost my vision of them as the fourth estate. It is more of a buyer beware issue now. We need to wise up and teach our kids discernment, not stamp out free speech, even if that speech is inflammatory.
.-= Lori Hoeck´s last blog ..What color code are you today? =-.

Anyway, I don’t know what some people here are getting so upset about but I can assume it is the right vs left game they so buy into. They are missing the point! Get a vaccine. Or don’t. It’s your choice…. as the title of this entry suggests.

Let’s say that seatbelts were to become a political issue. Say that the Obama administration began increasing the number of seatbelt-related Public Service Announcements. Now let’s say those who oppose Obama decide they now want to counter the seatbelt ads with their own constant stream of stories and opinion pieces spotlighting rare (by comparison) instances where seatbelts actually did more harm than good. Let’s say those pieces begin to shape public opinion and lots of people decide to not wear seatbelts on the off chance that they are one of the rare cases where they might be harmed by wearing one. If deaths from not wearing seatbelts were to suddenly skyrocket would the media outlets who perpetuated the stories not be somewhat responsible? I’m not talking of legal responsibilities but of moral responsibility.

Call me an idealist, but I think the news media should be in the business of giving people balanced information to make informed decisions and not hyping and creating stories and spreading misinformation on something as serious as this.

Oddly, many people I know who now complain that people ought to be able to say whatever they want on TV and the radio without any responsibility for their words and the actions they incite are the same people who screamed loudest a few years ago about violence and sex in movies, music and video games and how they were responsible for the moral decline of our country, Columbine and every other problem.

However, this post isn’t about Left v. Right, but rather how much I loathe that the vaccine issue has become politicized. It is a danger and a disservice to people for pundits to be engaging in political one-upmanship regarding something so serious.

And as for my final advice, I DO tell people to educate themselves (first line in the closing paragraph). And I also tell readers to consult their physicians rather than taking advice from people paid to stir up dissension and plant seeds of doubt. I didn’t say to let the doctor make up their minds for them. But if people don’t feel they can trust their physicians, they should seek different medical providers.