Also, I know I've brought this up before but it bears repeating... vetting your sources is very important:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NaturalNews
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".[18] Peter Bowditch of the website Ratbags,[19] and Jeff McMahon writing for Forbes commented about the site.[20] 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."[6]
Individuals who commented about Adams' website include astronomer and blogger Phil Plait,[21] PZ Myers,[22] and Mark Hoofnagle.[10]Brian Dunning listed it as #1 on his "Top 10 Worst Anti-Science Websites" list.[23] Adams is listed as a "promoter of questionable methods" by Quackwatch.[24] Robert T. Carrollat 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."[25]
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."[26]Commentators of Adams' article on Patrick Swayze included bloggers such as David Gorski[27] and Phil Plait, the latter of whom called Adams' commentary "obnoxious and loathsome."[28] When Angelina Jolieunderwent 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."[29]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.[30]
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 saltand eating Hijiki seaweed, and referred to the claims NaturalNews made about their efficacy as "preposterous."[31]
Shawn Lawrence Otto mentions the site, specifically its discussion of the Vioxxcontroversy, in his list of references in his book Fool Me Twice, and New York Timesreporter Christopher Kelly has mentioned Adams' endorsement of Jim Marrs' books.[32]
Mentions by scientistsEdit
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 [of anti-science websites]." This influence has led peer-reviewed papers to mention it, for example,
Wayne Parrott of the University of Georgiain 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.[33]Maureen Watson et al. wrote an article in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health regarding the HPV vaccineGardasil in South Australia, and used a 2007 article on NaturalNews as an example of fear-mongering on this topic.[34]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 H1N1vaccine; an article on NaturalNews[35]appeared as #16 on the list
