Amy Wallace's Pro-Vaccination, Pro-Science Article in Wired & Reactions to It

The short version: Who is Amy Wallace, and what's all the talk about?  She published a pro-science, pro-vaccine article in Wired, and several anti-vaccine heavyweights mouthpieces with big bankrolls mounted sexist personal attacks.

Update: On November 1, Dr. Isis of "Becoming a Domestic and Laboratory Goddess" published a post ridiculing J. B. Handley and asking her readers to also post their opinions on Handley's anti-vaccine stance and his misogyny.  Scroll down to the bottom for the list.

Update: Paul Smalera at True/Slant links here.  See link below.

Update: On November 5, Mr. Handley returned to the attack at the Age of Autism blog.  See link below.

The very long version follows:

Note: I've found several more reactions, pro and con, and have added them without comment.

On October 19, Wired Magazine published An Epidemic of Fear: How Panicked Parents Skipping Shots Endangers Us All by Amy Wallace. Rational, pro-science bloggers were congratulatory.

• October 19, Pete Trzeciak at Pete's Wicked Blog Wired Gets It
• October 20, Orac at Respectful Insolence An Epidemic of Fear
• October 20, Stats.org Anti-vaccination a Left-Wing Disease?
• October 25, Abel Pharmboy at Terra Sigillata Amy Wallace in Wired on Dr Paul Offit and the Anti-Vaccination Movement: Superb, Engaging Science Journalism
• October 27, David J. Kroll at Science-Based Medicine The Effective Wordsmithing of Amy Wallace

Here are some other positive reactions:

• October 20, Sullivan at Leftbrain/Rightbrain (Autism blog) Wired Magazine: An Epidemic of Fear
• October 20, Baptist Planet Epidemic Fear of flu vaccines endangers us all
• October 21, Corina Becker at No Stereotypes Here Amy Wallace and An Epidemic of Fear
• October 21, Erik at Stone Dead Parrot An Epidemic of Fear
• October 21, Tethered Swimming How to Kill Children Legally (Even Your Own) "Not vaccinating your kids is like patrolling your neighborhood for panel vans while Cousin Steve, the thrice convicted child molester, stays home to babysit"
• October 21, RickDakan Vaccinate Your Children Damnit
• October 21, KWombles at Countering Age of Autism Doing Something Right: Conniptions at Age of Autism
• October 24, Jen Chaney at Stroller Derby A Wired Cover Story That Jenny McCarthy Won't Like
• October 28, Josh at Newsvine Open Letter to The Writer of "An Epidemic of Fear"
• November 4, Paul Smalera at True/Slant Q & A With Amy Wallace

The anti-vaccination groups did not like the article at all.  See for example:

• October 20, Karen de Coster at LouRockwell.com "Vaccination Resisters: An Epidemic of Fear and Irrationality" http://tinyurl.com/yjqjvf9
  This article was picked up by a number of other conservative or anti-choice publications)
• October 20, Robert and Sandy Waters at AutismOne.org "Amy Wallace Autism Article at Wired Magazine" http://tinyurl.com/yzzjr3e
• October 20 C. Linderman sr. at Autism Today Online "An Epidemic of Lies and Mainstream Media Whoring Itself to Pharma's Advertising Dollars http://tinyurl.com/yzt2h3z
• October 21, Karen de Coster at Lou Rockwell.com "More on Vaccine Resisters" http://tinyurl.com/yjnqwal
• October 21, J.B. Handley at Age of Autism "Wired Magazine and Amy Wallace Drink Paul Offit's Kool-Aid http://tinyurl.com/yl7ywec
• October 23, Bill Sardi at Lou Rockwell.com "Where Are The Vaccine Pied Pipers Leading Us?" http://tinyurl.com/yh3dybm
• October 21, Prevent Disease.com "Wired Pushing Pro-Vaccine Articles Critical of Those Who Oppose Vaccines" http://tinyurl.com/ykqk7tt
• October 26, J. B. Handley at Age of Autism "Dr. Paul Offit, The Autism Expert, Doesn't See Patients With Autism"  http://tinyurl.com/yzvuboh
• November 5, J. B. Handley at Age of Autism "How Wired Magazine's Amy Wallace Endangers Our Kids" http://tinyurl.com/yczazeb

Evidently, Mr. Handley sent an even-more odious copy of his October 21 essay to Ms. Wallace

J.B. Handley, the founder of Generation Rescue, the anti-vaccine group that actress Jenny McCarthy helps promote, sent an essay titled, “Paul Offit Rapes (intellectually) Amy Wallace and Wired Magazine.” In it, he implied that Offit had slipped me a date rape drug. “The roofie cocktails at Paul Offit’s house must be damn good,” he wrote. Later, he sent a revised version that omitted rape and replaced it with the image of me drinking Offit’s Kool-aid. That one was later posted at the anti-vaccine blog Age of Autism. link http://tinyurl.com/yl7ywec

Wired Magazine published some reader reactions to the piece

• Part I (mostly attacking)
• Part II (mostly supportive)
• Part III (on responses from people with autism)

Amy Wallace doesn't have a blog, but twitters at @msamywallace. Australian blogger BastardSheep has collated Ms. Wallace's tweets:  Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V

Pro-science, pro-rationality blog reactions to the attacks on Wallace

• October 26, Sean Carrol at Cosmic Variance Defending Science Isn't Always Pretty
• October 27, Abel Pharmboy at Terra Sigillata When Critics Disagree With Me, I'm a Pharma Shill.  When Critics Disagree With A Woman, It Gets Sexual
• October 27 Kottke Killer Vaccines and the Killers Who Kill With Them
• October 28, Abel Pharmboy at Terra Sigillata Amy Wallace Wired Posts Love-Hate Mail from Twitter Feed
• October 28, Sullivan at Leftbrain/Rightbrain on Amy Wallace Discusses the Responses She Got to the Wired Article
• October 28 Rainbow of Chaos The Latest Round in the Vaccination War
• October 28 PalMD at White Coat Underground The Anti-Vaccine Movement Is Morally Bankrupt
• October 29 Autopilot Epidemic of Fear
• October 29 Bleakonomy Pots and kettles
• October 29, Bing McGandhi at Happy Jihad's House of Pancakes Antivaccine Bullies...
• October 30 Orac at Respectful Insolence The Anti-vaccine Movement Strikes Back Using Misogyny
• October 30, Rahul K Parikh The Ugliness of the Anti-Vaccine Movement
• October 30, Squillo at Confutata A Union of Concerned Scientists for Vaccines?
• October 30, Sara at Busy Nothings Paul Offit is My Hero
• October 31, David Gorski at Science-Based Medicine on J. B. Handley of the anti-vaccination group Generation Rescue: Misogynic Attacks on Journalists Who Champion Science
• November 1 Dr Isis at On Becoming A Domestic and Laboratory Goddess The Boys Call Out Misogyny Among The Anti-Vaxxers

Mainstream Media reactions to the article  and the attacks on Amy Wallace

• October 20 David Shenk at The Atlantic The New Pandemic of Vaccine Phobia
• October 26, Keven Roderick at LA Observed Amy Wallace and the antivaccine crowd
• October 27, Maia Szalavitz at Time Magazine Vaccine War: Autism, Flu and Science
• October 27, Minneapolis Post Vaccine Avoiders Put Everyone at Risk
• October 28, NPR Journalist's Vaccine Article Draws Hate Mail
• November 4, James Rainey at the L.A. Time's On The Media column: Childhood vaccines, autism, and the dangers of group-think

Other anti-vaccine writers responses to both the article and the tone of the attacks on Wallace

• October 21 Deskpoet I'm Not Getting the Flu Vaccine, So I Must Fear Science
• October 31, Life as the Mother of Four: I Just Called Out Dr. Parikh!

Other responses anti-Offit, but unable to quantify

• October 21, Wade Rankin at Injecting Sense: HOPE

Posts following Dr. Isis's seminal The Boys Call Out Misogyny on the Anti-Vaxxers, November 1  Note: Isis's post contains an image and some verbiage not safe for work. Some may find it offensive. It is meant to offend J. B. Handley:

• November 2, Sheryl at Sheryl's Scribblings, Stopping Fear and Misogyny
• November 2, Bug at Musings by Bug How Many Times is Too Many?
• November 2, Han at Sane Mom J. B. Handley: Christ What An Asshole
• November 2, Hello?  This is Reality Speaking.. In Support of Amy Wallace
• November 2 , How To Recover Lost Marbles J. B. Handley, Misogynist
• November 2,  Pull My Finger, J. B. Handley, El Chingacabra Mas Grande
• November 2, Mike at Mike's Weekly Skeptic Rant, Amy Wallace's Wired Article
• November 2, Janet Stemwedel at Adventures in Ethics and Science, Some Tactics Always Stink
• November 2, Dr. Isis at Becoming a Domestic and Laboratory Goddess Update Number 1 2 3 on J. B. Handley Probably Not Having Sex with Animals

Update March 8, 2010. Following a vile attack on Shannon, her son, and the rest of her family at a blog I will not name or link to, Shannon has given me permission to post this. It is hardly a secret that Squid is Shannon Rosa.  Shannon Rosa is an autism advocate not only for her son and her family, but for all parents of children with autism and all people with autism.  Read her blog at  BlogHer: Shannon Rosa's Blog

Comments

[Squillo]

Muchas gracias for compiling all these! I'm so pleased that a such a popular "mainstream media" outlet has published an unequivocal vaccine piece, without any of the mandatory fake-balance that seems so prevalent. It seems to be getting lots of vaccination supporters to come forward, which is great. It also gives us the chance to look more closely at how the issue is being framed and argued, which I believe is very important.

[Kennedy]

I found myself getting bored with Wired's scrap-book presentation quite some time ago and quit reading it, but when I saw the anti-anti-vax cover I knew I had to buy it, even if there was nothing in it in terms of new information to me.
Seeing a bold (& accurate) position taken on a magazine with it's circulation deserves the respect & support of my dollar.

[kwombles]

I covered it on the 21st: http://counteringageofautism.blogspot.com/2009/10/doing-something-right-conniptions-at.html

[I'd like to keep my kids thanks]

Yeah, to question the wisdom of 100,000 vaccines per baby (don't shoot the messenger here) means your sexist. Good thing Amy Wallace is a respectful feminist:
"McCarthy, an actress and a former Playboy centerfold"
OH she's a former playboy centerfold! Well I can stop listening to her and start ridiculing her right away now that I know she's just some 'dumb bimbo.' Thank you Amy for that bit of information about Jenny McCarthy which is clearly both highly pertinant to the article and a defining aspect of Jenny McCarthy's life.

Wired has the best reportage, I go to them for all my answers regarding complex public health issues, as should you. I can't wait to get into "WTF TV: the most demented comedy show ever."

what you say? Yes, OF COURSE they're a serious news source!

[I'd like to keep my kids thanks]

*re:WTF tv
it was that fine news magazine's other cover story in the vaccine issue... "reportage" lol.

[Riayn]

What a fantastic resource of all that has been written about Wallace's article. Thanks so much for compiling this.

[Broken Link]

Liz,

There are a heaping handful more, courtesy of Isis, I guess.

Try googling jb handley misogyny.

[DrV]

Gr8 work Liz

[adhd]

Oh nice collection. I am finding such kind of resource for several month.It's pretty nice and helpful.