My post, “Vaccination Resisters: An Epidemic of Fear and Irrationality,” links to and comments on this article in Wired magazine, where the author makes the point that people who refuse vaccinations are clinging to fear, irrationality, and pseudo-science. Bretigne Shaffer pointed out to me that Wired has posted a follow-up on its website informing readers that editors will field questions about the article — and this may interest some readers.
We recognize that diving into the vaccine debate is a risky maneuver because of its heated nature. But rest assured, we put this story (and every other in the magazine) through a rigorous fact checking process that scrutinizes every word. As a research editor at Wired, I consulted experts, peer-reviewed journals, and the government agencies that regulate our vaccines. In fact, my research folder for this story approaches my biggest ever. And we don’t want all those facts to go to waste. So we’d like to open up our process. For the next couple of weeks, Amy Wallace, the article’s author, Erin Biba, correspondent, Joanna Pearlstein, Wired’s senior research editor, and I will be responding to your specific questions about sourcing. Please post them in the comments section. So ask away—but before you do, please consult our section on further reading. That’s a good place to start.
I don’t think that supporting the research is the problem, here. What has people concerned is: 1) scientific research was drawn from only one side of the debate (pro-vaccination), and 2) the collectivist, pro-mandate, anti-individual liberty attitude conveyed by the author throughout the piece.
