Air America beholden to special interests?

Say it ain't so, but David Kirby, author of Evidence of Harm: Mercury in Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic: A Medical Controversy (St. Martin’s Press, 2005), says that Air America canceled an appearance he had on their network:

"NPR and the Public Broadcasting System get a lot of money from drug companies," Kirby told Corporate Crime Reporter. "And they need whatever money they can get, so they are not going to offend any advertiser - ever. Whereas the major commercial networks have a little more leeway and play. They take more risks. The conservative press is anti-government, whereas the liberal press is so pro-public health - it is like the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) can do no wrong, doctors can do no wrong. It’s like - the liberal Democratic Party establishment created this public health system that we are so proud of, and we are not going to attack it."

"On the left, support of government public health programs trumps hatred of drug companies," Kirby said. "And the right is a little more divided. You have the pro-business right - the Bill Frist and the Wall Street Journal editorial side - who are defending the drug companies at all costs. And then you have the real anti-government and anti-bureaucracy types who fear and distrust government and think this [the mercury/autism link] is entirely plausible."

Posted in Meta at April 21, 2005 04:35 PM

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