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Revision as of 16:02, 26 July 2014 view sourceMrBill3 (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers39,593 editsm Adding/improving reference(s)← Previous edit Revision as of 16:17, 26 July 2014 view source Jytdog (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers187,951 edits →Founder: let's stick with facts and not with people claiming who is behind X or Y - that is an endless road of tit for tat. pls discuss on Talk if you feel strongly thanksNext edit →
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] accused Adams of using ] accounts to inflate vote counts in the ] (Joseph Mercola was also accused of doing this)<ref>{{cite web |last= Plait |first= Phil |authorlink= Phil Plait |url= http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/01/23/alt-med-guy-whacked-with-shorty-end-of-the-stick/#.UUUFFBeG2So |title= Alt Med guy whacked with Shorty end of the stick |work= ] |type= blog |publisher= ] |date= 2010-01-23 |accessdate= 2013-10-25}}</ref> specifically in response to a skeptical campaign to upvote ]. After losing when his fraudulent votes were revoked, he posted articles criticizing the Shorty Awards.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.naturalnews.com/028006_Shorty_Awards_vote_fraud.html |title= Shorty Awards exposed as rigged contest; All NaturalNews reader votes deleted |work= NaturalNews |last= Adams |first= Mike |date= 2010-02-22 |accessdate= 2013-10-25}}</ref> ] draws alt-med cartoons for them, though Adams comes up with the concepts. Adams has also made music videos expressing similar viewpoints as the articles posted on his website, such as opposition to the ].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://abcnews.go.com/Health/SwineFlu/story?id=8466417 | title=The Swine Flu Goes Mainstream | work=] | date=2 September 2009 | accessdate=20 July 2014 | author=Brownstein, Joseph}}</ref> ] accused Adams of using ] accounts to inflate vote counts in the ] (Joseph Mercola was also accused of doing this)<ref>{{cite web |last= Plait |first= Phil |authorlink= Phil Plait |url= http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/01/23/alt-med-guy-whacked-with-shorty-end-of-the-stick/#.UUUFFBeG2So |title= Alt Med guy whacked with Shorty end of the stick |work= ] |type= blog |publisher= ] |date= 2010-01-23 |accessdate= 2013-10-25}}</ref> specifically in response to a skeptical campaign to upvote ]. After losing when his fraudulent votes were revoked, he posted articles criticizing the Shorty Awards.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.naturalnews.com/028006_Shorty_Awards_vote_fraud.html |title= Shorty Awards exposed as rigged contest; All NaturalNews reader votes deleted |work= NaturalNews |last= Adams |first= Mike |date= 2010-02-22 |accessdate= 2013-10-25}}</ref> ] draws alt-med cartoons for them, though Adams comes up with the concepts. Adams has also made music videos expressing similar viewpoints as the articles posted on his website, such as opposition to the ].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://abcnews.go.com/Health/SwineFlu/story?id=8466417 | title=The Swine Flu Goes Mainstream | work=] | date=2 September 2009 | accessdate=20 July 2014 | author=Brownstein, Joseph}}</ref>


In July 2014 Adams compared media outlets that wrote positively about GMOs with Nazi Germany's propogandists. He continued "that it is the moral right — and even the obligation — of human beings everywhere to actively plan and carry out the killing of those engaged in heinous crimes against humanity."<ref>{{cite web |first= Keith |last= Kloor |url= http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/collideascape/2014/07/24/mike-adams-elevates-ugly-anti-gmo-campaign/#.U9GLsJR_uys |title= Mike Adams Elevates his Ugly Anti-GMO Campaign |website= discovermagazine.com |date= 24 July 2014}}</ref> A day after the post a website called "Monsanto Collaborator" appeared online which listed the names of scientists and journalists who allegedly collaborate with the bio industry.<ref name=glp>{{cite web |first1= Jon |last1= Entine |first2= Paul |last2= Raeburn |url= http://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/2014/07/25/mike-adams-claims-monsanto-set-up-kill-gmo-supporters-website-as-scientists-journalists-face-death-threats/ |title= Mike Adams claims Monsanto set up “kill GMO supporters” website, as scientists, journalists face death threats |website= genticliteracyproject.org |date= 25 July 2014}}</ref> Adams responded that the "Monsanto Collaborators" website was a setup by the biotech industry and advised other anti-GMO activists against citing it.<ref name=glp/> In July 2014 Adams compared media outlets that wrote positively about GMOs with Nazi Germany's propogandists. He continued "that it is the moral right — and even the obligation — of human beings everywhere to actively plan and carry out the killing of those engaged in heinous crimes against humanity."<ref>{{cite web |first= Keith |last= Kloor |url= http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/collideascape/2014/07/24/mike-adams-elevates-ugly-anti-gmo-campaign/#.U9GLsJR_uys |title= Mike Adams Elevates his Ugly Anti-GMO Campaign |website= discovermagazine.com |date= 24 July 2014}}</ref> A day after the post a website called "Monsanto Collaborator" appeared online which listed the names of scientists and journalists who allegedly collaborate with the bio industry.<ref name=glp>{{cite web |first1= Jon |last1= Entine |first2= Paul |last2= Raeburn |url= http://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/2014/07/25/mike-adams-claims-monsanto-set-up-kill-gmo-supporters-website-as-scientists-journalists-face-death-threats/ |title= Mike Adams claims Monsanto set up “kill GMO supporters” website, as scientists, journalists face death threats |website= genticliteracyproject.org |date= 25 July 2014}}</ref>


==Reception== ==Reception==

Revision as of 16:17, 26 July 2014

NaturalNews
File:NaturalNews logo.jpg
Type of siteBlog
Available inEnglish
OwnerMike Adams
Created byMike Adams
URLhttp://www.naturalnews.com
CommercialNutraceuticals

NaturalNews (formerly Newstarget) is a website operated by Mike Adams. It is dedicated to alternative medicine and various conspiracy theories, such as "chemtrails", the alleged dangers of fluoride in drinking water, (as well as those of monosodium glutamate and aspartame) and alleged health problems caused by "toxic" ingredients in vaccines, including the now-discredited link to autism.

It features guest authors such as anti-vaccinationist Joseph Mercola, and anti-vaccinationist and conspiracy theorist Jon Rappoport, and has featured interviews with Russell Blaylock, Sandor Katz, and others.

Its primary purpose is the promotion of alternative medicine and (often controversial) nutrition claims.

History

Mike Adams founded NaturalNews.com.

Mission and scope

NaturalNews describes its mission as follows:

"...an online news source covering all areas of personal and planetary wellness from nutrition to renewable energy."

Founder

Michael Allen "Mike" Adams (born 1967 in Lawrence, Kansas), the self-described "Health Ranger", is the founder and owner of NaturalNews. According to his own website his interest in alternative nutrition was sparked by developing type II diabetes at the age of 30 and "completely curing" himself using natural remedies. He is a raw foods enthusiast and holistic nutritionist. He claims to eat no processed foods, dairy, sugar, meat from mammals or food products containing additives such as MSG.

Adams is an AIDS denialist, a 9/11 truther, a birther and endorsed conspiracy theories surrounding the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, as well as surrounding the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. He has endorsed Burzynski: Cancer Is Serious Business, a movie about Stanislaw Burzynski. Steven Novella characterises Adams as "a dangerous conspiracy-mongering crank". Adams has also written a favorable review of the pseudoscientific film House of Numbers on NaturalNews, which is reprinted on the film's website.

Phil Plait accused Adams of using sockpuppet accounts to inflate vote counts in the Shorty Awards (Joseph Mercola was also accused of doing this) specifically in response to a skeptical campaign to upvote Rachael Dunlop. After losing when his fraudulent votes were revoked, he posted articles criticizing the Shorty Awards. Dan Berger draws alt-med cartoons for them, though Adams comes up with the concepts. Adams has also made music videos expressing similar viewpoints as the articles posted on his website, such as opposition to the swine flu vaccine.

In July 2014 Adams compared media outlets that wrote positively about GMOs with Nazi Germany's propogandists. He continued "that it is the moral right — and even the obligation — of human beings everywhere to actively plan and carry out the killing of those engaged in heinous crimes against humanity." A day after the post a website called "Monsanto Collaborator" appeared online which listed the names of scientists and journalists who allegedly collaborate with the bio industry.

Reception

David Gorski of ScienceBlogs called the site "one of the most wretched hives of scum and quackery on the Internet," and the most "blatant purveyor of the worst kind of quackery and paranoid anti-physician and anti-medicine conspiracy theories anywhere on the Internet". Peter Bowditch of the website Ratbags, and Jeff McMahon writing for Forbes commented about the site. Steven Novella of NeuroLogica Blog called NaturalNews "a crank alt med site that promotes every sort of medical nonsense imaginable. If it is unscientific, antiscientific, conspiracy-mongering, or downright silly, Mike Adams appears to be all for it – whatever sells the "natural" products he hawks on his site."

Individuals who commented about Adams' website include astronomer and blogger Phil Plait, PZ Myers, and Mark Hoofnagle. Brian Dunning listed it as #1 on his "Top 10 Worst Anti-Science Websites" list. Adams is listed as a "promoter of questionable methods" by Quackwatch. Robert T. Carroll at The Skeptic's Dictionary said, "Natural News is not a very good source for information. If you don't trust me on this, go to Respectful Insolence or any of the other bloggers on ScienceBlogs and do a search for "Natural News" or "Mike Adams" (who is NaturalNews). Hundreds of entries will be found and not one of them will have a good word to say about Mike Adams as a source."

After Patrick Swayze's death in 2009, Adams posted an article in which he remarked that Swayze, in dying, "joins many other celebrities who have been recently killed by pharmaceuticals or chemotherapy." Commentators of Adams' article on Patrick Swayze included bloggers such as David Gorski and Phil Plait, the latter of whom called Adams' commentary "obnoxious and loathsome." When Angelina Jolie underwent a double mastectomy in May 2013 because she had the BRCA1 gene, Adams stated that "Countless millions of women carry the BRCA1 gene and never express breast cancer because they lead healthy, anti-cancer lifestyles based on smart nutrition, exercise, sensible sunlight exposure and avoidance of cancer-causing chemicals." Gorski called the article "vile" and noted that Adams had written similarly themed articles about the death of Michael Jackson, Tony Snow, and Tim Russert.

In 2014, Brian Palmer, writing in the Daily Herald of Arlington Heights, Illinois, criticized the site's promotion of alternative medicine treatments, such as bathing in Himalayan salt and eating Hijiki seaweed, and referred to the claims NaturalNews made about their efficacy as "preposterous."

Shawn Lawrence Otto mentions the site, specifically its discussion of the Vioxx controversy, in his list of references in his book Fool Me Twice, and New York Times reporter Christopher Kelly has mentioned Adams' endorsement of Jim Marrs' books.

Mentions by scientists

Brian Dunning, as noted above, pointed out that NaturalNews is very influential, saying "For its frighteningly large influence, and abysmal quality of information, it earns the #1 spot on this list ." This influence has led peer-reviewed papers to mention it, for example,

  • Wayne Parrott of the University of Georgia in the journal New Biotechnology wrote an article defending genetically modified food and, as an example of the allegations he was addressing, included a NaturalNews article.
  • Maureen Watson et al. wrote an article in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health regarding the HPV vaccine Gardasil in South Australia, and used a 2007 article on NaturalNews as an example of fear-mongering on this topic.
  • Neil Seeman et al. in the Canadian journal Healthcare Quarterly published a study called "Assessing and Responding in Real Time to Online Anti-vaccine Sentiment during a Flu Pandemic." NaturalNews has a long history of criticizing the flu vaccine as ineffective and dangerous. In appendix 1, they outline 20 search results about the safety of the H1N1 vaccine; an article on NaturalNews appeared as #16 on the list.

References

  1. "Alexa: Naturalnews.com Site Info". Retrieved November 21, 2013.
  2. Pearce, Matt (2013-02-07). "Conspiracy theorists harassing, impersonating Aurora victims". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  3. NaturalNews articles on chemtrails
  4. ^ Novella, Steven (2010-01-25). "Mike Adams Takes On 'Skeptics'". Neurologica (blog). New England Skeptical Society.
  5. Nanditha (2013-07-10). "The bitter truth about MSG". NaturalNews.
  6. ^ Novella, Steven (2010-12-14). "H1N1 Vaccine and Miscarriages – More Fear Mongering". Neurologica (blog). New England Skeptical Society.
  7. Orac (2011-10-27). "Mike Adams vs. the flu vaccine". Respectful Insolence. ScienceBlogs. Retrieved 2014-03-11.
  8. ^ "Media and Press Information". NaturalNews.
  9. "Health Ranger Profile and History". HealthRanger.com. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  10. ^ Mark (2013-04-01). "Natural News' Mike Adams Adds Global Warming Denialism to HIV/AIDS denial, Anti-vax, Altie-med, Anti-GMO, Birther Crankery". Denialism (blog). ScienceBlogs. Retrieved 2013-09-25.
  11. Adams, Mike (2011-09-25). "Jumping rope and 9/11 truth - how the sheeple have been trained to avoid unpopular truth about WTC 7". NaturalNews. Archived from the original on 2011-09-27.
  12. Orac (2013-10-03). "Mike Adams puts Chicken McNuggets 'under the microscope.' Hilarity ensues". Respectful Insolence. ScienceBlogs. Retrieved 2014-03-11.
  13. Phillips, David (13 July 2010). "More BP Gulf Oil Spill Conspiracies Flourish -- From Algae Farms to Armed Dolphins". CBS News. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  14. Orac (2012-12-12). "Stanislaw Burzynski: A pioneering cancer researcher or a quack?". Respectful Insolence. ScienceBlogs. Retrieved 2014-03-11.
  15. Adams, Mike (29 October 2009). "Breakthrough documentary "House of Numbers" challenges conventional thinking on HIV, AIDS". Houseofnumbers.com. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  16. Plait, Phil (2010-01-23). "Alt Med guy whacked with Shorty end of the stick". Bad Astronomy (blog). Discover. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  17. Adams, Mike (2010-02-22). "Shorty Awards exposed as rigged contest; All NaturalNews reader votes deleted". NaturalNews. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  18. Brownstein, Joseph (2 September 2009). "The Swine Flu Goes Mainstream". ABC News. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  19. Kloor, Keith (24 July 2014). "Mike Adams Elevates his Ugly Anti-GMO Campaign". discovermagazine.com.
  20. Entine, Jon; Raeburn, Paul (25 July 2014). "Mike Adams claims Monsanto set up "kill GMO supporters" website, as scientists, journalists face death threats". genticliteracyproject.org.
  21. Orac (2008-08-07). "A fungus among us in oncology?". Respectful Insolence (blog). ScienceBlogs.
  22. "Natural News". Comment and Opinion. The Millenium Project. RatbagsDotCom, Peter Bowditch. 2010-01-23.
  23. McMahon, Jeff (2011-04-19) . "Does Natural News do Cover-Ups?". Forbes.
  24. Plait, Phil (2010-12-13). "Mike Adams fails again: Astrology edition". Bad Astronomy (blog). Discover.
  25. Myers, PZ (2011-05-11). "Mike Adams: Pretentious git, slandering liar". Pharyngula (blog). ScienceBlogs.
  26. Dunning, Brian (2011-11-08). "Top 10 Worst Anti Science Websites". Skeptoid (podcast). Episode 283. transcript. {{cite episode}}: External link in |transcripturl= (help); Unknown parameter |transcripturl= ignored (|transcript-url= suggested) (help)
  27. "Promoters of Questionable Methods and/or Advice". Quackwatch. 2013-11-29.
  28. Carroll, Robert T. (2010-12-30) . "Sources: How the WWW allows one person to seem to be many sources--The Eileen Danneman Story". Skeptimedia (blog). skepdic.com .
  29. Adams, Mike (2009-09-15). "Patrick Swayze dead at 57 after chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer". NaturalNews. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  30. Orac (2009-09-16). "Mike Adams adds religious nuttery to his armamentarium as he slimes Patrick Swayze posthumously". Respectful Insolence (blog). Scienceblogs. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  31. Plait, Phil (2009-09-25). "Alt med ghouls". Bad Astronomy (blog). Discover. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
  32. Adams, Mike (2013-05-15). "Angelina Jolie inspires women to maim themselves by celebrating medically perverted double mastectomies". NaturalNews. Retrieved 2013-08-02.
  33. Orac (2013-05-15). "The quack view of preventing breast cancer versus reality and Angelina Jolie". Respectful Insolence (blog). ScienceBlogs. Retrieved 2013-08-02.
  34. Palmer, Brian (22 February 2014). "Hundreds believe preposterous stories on Facebook". Daily Herald. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  35. Kelly, Christopher (2013-02-16). "Thinking beyond the creationists and the Darwinists". Texas Monthly. The New York Times.
  36. Parrott, Wayne (2010). "Genetically modified myths and realities". New Biotechnology. 27 (5): 545–51. doi:10.1016/j.nbt.2010.05.016. PMID 20609417.
  37. Watson, Maureen; Shaw, Douglas; Molchanoff, Luda; McInnes, Cathy (2009). "Challenges, lessons learned and results following the implementation of a human papilloma virus school vaccination program in South Australia". Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health. 33 (4): 365–70. doi:10.1111/j.1753-6405.2009.00409.x. PMID 19689598.
  38. Adams, Mike (2009-09-18). "Ten Swine Flu Lies Told by the Mainstream Media". NaturalNews.
  39. Seeman, Neil; Ing, Alton; Rizo, Carlos (2010). "Assessing and responding in real time to online anti-vaccine sentiment during a flu pandemic". Healthcare Quarterly. 13: 8–15. doi:10.12927/hcq.2010.21923. PMID 20959725.

External links

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