Re: Calls to axe TV drama on MMR

[EMAIL PROTECTED] (john) wrote in
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]: 

> Censorship is alive and well in the UK as well as the US

> http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1098369,00.html 

> Channel Five is facing demands to pull the plug on a hard-hitting
> drama favourable to the disputed view that the MMR jab may be linked
> to autism. 
> 
> A former colleague of the scientist at the centre of the row claims
> the programme will endanger children's lives by fostering doubts about
> the triple vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella. 

[snip]

> One of the doctors who has worked with Dr Wakefield wrote to Jane
> Lighting, Five's chief executive, asking her not to transmit it. 
> 
> The doctor, a co-author of the original Lancet paper that provoked the
> controversy, says in the letter that the film is undeniably good
> drama, but it unacceptably and dangerously blurs the border between
> truth and fiction. 
> 
> "The acting was excellent, and the story was gripping. Unfortunately,
> the fact that your programme is not accurate is a matter of the utmost
> seriousness, and one which could lead children to die. You may seek to
> justify the inaccuracies by invoking the notion of artistic licence.
> However, there is no room for artistic licence when the lives of
> children are at risk." 

Censorship?  Demands?  I see nothing here but an involved party contacting 
a media outlet and expressing his concerns about the accuracy of something 
they're planning to run.  The story doesn't contain any evidence that 
Wakefield's colleague threatened any sort of consequences, legal or 
otherwise, against the channel if they went ahead and showed the program.  
That's not censorship; that's someone exercising his right to free speech.