“Trust me, you’re going to be shocked….we all should be a little bit afraid.”
That’s how “The Doctors” TV show teases one of its programs, along with this:
“Each year, millions of chemicals are poured into American foods. From doughnuts to fresh produce, The Doctors reveals the toxic ingredients lurking in your grocery bag. And, what you could be getting along with a cup of pasta!”
A journalist wrote to me about it, calling it “Fear-mongering at its best.”
In the tsunami of health information that washes over the American public every day, we are forced to ride the waves of “cures” to “scares” not only in news stories but in advertising and in non-news TV programming.
I’m reminded of the British website, “Kill or Cure?” which says it offers “Help to make sense of the Daily Mail’s ongoing effort to classify every inanimate object into those that cause cancer and those that prevent it.”
Maybe I should rename my blog, because much of what we write about is the spectrum of claims of what will cure you or kill you – often disease-mongering and fear-mongering in action.
Opinions on other issues in news, journals, PR, advertising, marketing
More for milk debates: "Switching to skim #milk may slow biological aging" https://upi.com/6975065t via @upi cc @garyschwitzer @joansalgeblake
"We can't say that this was caused by milk fat." As is often the case with nutrition studies: correlation ≠ causation.
#RelaxDammit
@HealthNewsRevu @mcjaklevic HealthNewsReview once again revealing hype that far outstrips reality. I suspect that one day, AI will meaningfully contribute to good patient care. Whether that's in 10 years or 100, I couldn't say. What is clear is that we ain't there yet.
Comments
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Rorr
March 17, 2012 at 8:27 amWHY ON EARTH Would anyone watch this show. Its nothing but fear based people control…
“Ohhh better do this or you will catch the cancer!QQ!!!!!”
Its all fear based mind control.
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