Remember Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s irresponsible article linking vaccinations to autism? Major news outlet carried it and many people erroneously believed it.
Now Salon is removing it from its website.
Does this go under "Faux news?"
This happens more often than not with science articles specious in nature.
The problem with irresponsible reporting (and articles like RFK, jr's) is that once they are out there, some people will continue to believe them.
ReplyDeleteThis was a really tragic affair. People put a lot of faith into what proved to be bad science if not in fact fraud, and really set aside some clear scientific thinking and research, to grasp at a straw. One hopes that a lot of children will now get vaccinated before we end up with needless deaths and illnesses.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you both.
ReplyDeleteTo me, it struck me as outright fraud but seemingly smart people - so eager to believe everything is a conspiracy; as it stands corporations are the favorite target - bought into it.