Special Report - Online activists are silencing us, scientists say Reuters March 2019

Knowing this was coming, I've actually done a lot of research on this and will hopefully produce that more general article I mentioned, soon.

It's very common. "Tone policing" is the official name for saying that someone can protest but must do it nicely, or what they have to say ought to be dismissed, but typically the ideal way in which to protest, according to the dominant group, is not at all. We will never be quiet and polite enough because objecting at all will never be considered acceptable. And when you are totally quiet in hopes that people will change based off of your 'good behavior' we lapse into the next term.

"Respectability politics" wherein people both inside and outside a group will attempt to appease the larger group by promoting or engaging in behavior that is seen as 'ideal' by or even that mimics that of the dominant group. The term was initially used in reference to black politics in the US, but it has since seen wider use, and several articles and papers have been written that use the term in reference to disability and/or chronic illness.

 

In the article @JaimeS

Yes that is very true @Barry , I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions, am just so used to the CDC behaving badly I've been waiting for the 'other shoe to drop' since they made the changes.

My head is exploding & i'm feeling too emotional about it all. I'm bowing out.

LOL that wont be any loss to the thread

But i did want to say that eventually @dave30th will be the one getting a medal.

 

Would be good for something similarly health related. The more readily it maps onto our situation, the more readily people would gain the insights they need. And it is about gaining insights.

 

But doesn't it just show how articles like this can bypass people's sanity checks, no matter how tuned in they are.

 

Too bad re: the source. It looks like good reporting, honestly, having read the whole thing -- but it would be better coming from something not called "GM Watch".

 

Exactly. I fell for it too, for a second.

Even if you think CDC is about to sprout horns, Unger wouldn't release a video explicitly stating that ME is not a psychosomatic disorder one week and release a statement like that the next.

I'll lay bets on Kelland prompting Unger in some very specific way.

 

Yes it certainly does, i feel a bit embarrassed by my lack of thoughtfulness there.

 

Yes, and I'll bet it's very much about the quotes that were omitted. The simplest form of bias is to omit what you don't want people to know, and then the bits you are left with - join them up out of context so their implied meaning gets screwed.

 

I think it's ridiculous that your tweet was being presented as a key example of abusive harassment, but at the same time, I do think it's a reminder that tweets like that are unlikely to be useful, and can be used to distract from the real problems with research like PACE. I've had comments of mine taken out of context and used against patients before - it is shitty. It's also a reason to keep trying to remind each other that expressions of frustration on social media can be unhelpful and are worth avoiding imo.

 

Easy done believe me. That's what these folk excel at.

 

Good grief it's a busy night!

 

Wouldnt it be marvellous if Kelland really has spliced Unger's words to the point that it pisses Unger off enough for her to do something about it!

Just fantasising

 

I have very complicated feelings on this subject. We're all suffering and sometimes you have to let it out. I do wish people wouldn't let it out in the direction of knee-jerk anger or conspiracy theorizing, especially in the direction of Sharpe et al. -- their baseless theories basically run on tragedy and righteous anger at this point.

 

Oh regardless it'll be pointed out to her.

 

@inox

 

Although I basically agree with @Esther12, I also think that this article clearly demonstrates that if the SMC and their friends in the media want to cast us in a negative light, they'll always find a way to do it. There's no point in anyone beating themselves up because their words have been twisted and used against them (and the rest of us) - all you can do is try and learn from the experience.

 

Well said

 

https://archive.fo/qUtNn

Feels like these principles are not counting for much.

 

Whoa, they DEFINITELY don't. Kelland has been writing for them for ages and always for some ethically shady group intent on smearing critics of their unethical practices or poor science. It's her MO and they've hosted her work for years.

Moreover, Reuters usually has a chuckle when anyone tries to correct her misinformation (see the article linked previously re: Monsanto).

I would like to see how they'd respond to criticism from the CDC itself.