LYMEPOLICYWONK: CALDA CALLS ON TRIBUNE TO PRINT OP ED REBUTTAL TO BIASED ARTICLE
Lyme patients take a lot of heat, frankly too much heat. Sometimes reporters make errors, don’t have enough facts, and aren’t fully informed. And that is rough. But it is even rougher when reporters are informed and given the correct information and then ignore half of it. So what do you do? Well, CALDA has written the Chicago Tribune protesting the highly biased reporting in its December 8, 2010 article on Lyme disease. We have asked them to publish an Op Ed piece by CALDA. We believe that reporters have an ethical obligation to report on stories in a balanced manner. They also owe it to patients to set out both sides of a scientific debate. To do otherwise, puts the lives and health of thousands of sick people in danger. What do you think? If you are interested in supporting this effort, please write the Tribune (emails below). Ask them to publish an Op-Ed by CALDA to set the record straight. A tip of the hat to Ellen and the NYC Lyme Activism group for their wonderful work on this project. More information after the jump. . .
If you would like to support this effort:
WRITE TO:
GKern@tribune.com (Gerould Kern, Editor)
PLEASE CC:
JHirt@tribune.com (Jane Hirt, Managing Editor)
GPapajohn@tribune.com (George Papajohn Ass’t Editor, Investigative Reporting)
KTisue@tribune.com (Kaarin Tisue, Deputy Editor)
WHAT TO WRITE:
[Please do not write about personal stories. They will not further this effort and may detract from it.]
Dear Tribune editors:
Your December 8th article about chronic Lyme disease by reporters Callahan and Tsouderos is extremely biased. The following blog, by Lorraine Johnson of CALDA, refutes its many scientific inaccuracies.
https://www.lymedisease.org/news/lymepolicywonk/609.html
In the interest of fairness, please publish a rebuttal article by CALDA, explaining important facts that were left out of your original article.
You can contact Lorraine Johnson, JD, MBA at lbjohnson@lymedisease.org.
Dear Lorraine,
As a scientist and as the mother of a child with multiple tick-born illnesses, I whole heartedly support your efforts to get an op ed piece published in the Tribune. I have sent my letter and I want to express my deep appreciation for the deep knowledge base and advocacy skills that you use to give a voice to those with tick-borne illnesses. I am behind you 100%.
Please publish this rebuttal which contains unbiased information with scientfic back up, something that was missing from your first article. Thank You.
Thanks be to you, Lorraine, for addressing yet again another fire flamed by misinformation that threatens the well-being of Lyme patients everywhere. My children and I are continuingly grateful for your skills, talents, and dedication on our behalf.
Hopefully they do this.
You. Rock. Thank you.
I have already replied to the Tribune article directly, to it's editors and to Trine Tsouderos, former food editor now science and education writer for the Tribune and principal architect for this shabby excuse for journalism. Your rebuttal is not only appropriate, but less harsh than my observations. I will gladly lend my support for what it's worth
The Inconvenient Truth – Anti-trust denial of tangible, credible patient-caregiver and scientific rebuttal evidence is unconscionable -in harm to public health, innocent children and future generations at taxpayers' expense!
You absolutely have my support! I have already written to the reporters telling them how disgusted I am with how they reported this article. Hopefully the Chicago Tribune will do your follow up article and that it will be sent to all the other newspapers who ran it. I just got ours today Dec 20th here in Orlando, FL.
The Chicago Tribune is in steep decline financially and intellectually. The only way to get their attention is to purchase full page ads from them like the Pharma companies do. The trashy Lyme expose is a quid pro quo deal. Their goal is to meet the payroll not publish truths. It is best to ignore the Tribune just like most Chicago residents do.