06 February 2009

LBC sharks

Dr Grumble has been on LBC live. He did it for nothing. He did it not as a favour to LBC. He went on as a favour to patients because he had something important to say to them. LBC have recorded in Dr Grumble's department. The reporter was a nice chap. He did his job professionally.

Dr Grumble will not choose to go on LBC again. He will politely decline. And he will tell them why. But basically it is because they are shits.

4 comments:

The Shrink said...

Much badness.

Anonymous said...

Why not send Jeni a message and tell her what you think?

Anonymous said...

You've been added to the roll call of blogs covering this issue.

Petra Boynton has discussed the issue of health professionals collaborating with media at some length: Ever wondered why health professionals don't want to work with the media and the public are misinformed on medical issues?
"There are major problems within journalism currently about the level of understanding of health and science issues by presenters, researchers and other media staff. While a minority appear to have a good grasp of what’s going on and take time to read evidence and seek professional input, the majority of reporters are often poorly placed to understand and discuss complex and emotive health issues and lack the time, training and/or enthusiasm to get to grips with health or science evidence."

Following on from Jeni Barnett's handling of Yasmin's challenge and her subsequent characterisation of Yasmin's phone call as "vicious", Petra Boynton has declared this.
"We can speak to the media offices at our university and tell them not to deal with LBC. We can share within blogs, websites, listserves and research/professional groups individual journalists or particular publications/production companies who behave badly to discourage cooperation with them - and encourage cooperation with any competitors who can show commitment to good journalism and ethical practice.

I’ll be doing this with my office and with the British Psychological Society on Monday. And I’ll be showing them the transcript between Jeni Barnett and Yasmin to support my reasoning for the suggested boycott. Why should any qualified person volunteer their time for free to a radio station that treats professionals so shabbily and operates a system of censorship that denies their listeners access to evidence and reliable advice."

Anonymous said...

As well as boycotting LBC, Dr Grumble might wish to avoid buying Mrs Grumble any Valentine's Day gifts from Neal's Yard Remedies.

They stock an interesting little pamphlet called "Understanding MMR. The facts, choices and alternatives". Written by Lara Sussman.

Page 2 "this is intended to be an unbiased guide..."

Page 27 "However, in my experience as a homeopath, the autistic connection is merely the tip of the iceberg and I have begun to use vaccinations in homoepathic remedy form...with eye-opening and sometimes disturbing results"

You can almost hear the axe grinding away