On Being "Unbiased"

On 28/2/98, Andrew Wakefield published a (now retracted) study in The Lancet, supposedly linking the cause of autism to MMR vaccines through a disease in the gut. Unlike most researchers, the first thing he did was call a press meeting. Through his position in the medical field, and his newfound immediate proximity with the press, Mr. Wakefield was able to immediately present his new findings as reasonable concerns. And everything from articles in the Daily Mail to full blown Channel 4 and BBC News segments were concocted on the topic. Interestingly, whilst the Daily Mail and its ilk can immediately adopt a position in support of the study, the radio/tele news broadcasts in the UK are required to be unbiased by law. So instead, they ask Wakefield and posit a few questions to him, but, incapable of saying that he's wrong, of really saying anything about him, present him as a legitimate side of a two sided discussion. Immediately normalising his perspective. Clips from that early…