michele.nayman wrote: ↑Fri Apr 30, 2021 1:10 am Final comment from me: Thank you to CEO for posting my article on Covid and long Covid, and to the people who made interesting and supportive comments, especially the person who contacted me privately with information on new research that I had not seen. The forum is technically well managed, and names mentioned come high up in search engine results, which is how I heard about the forum and the post. Perhaps CEO members might keep that in mind before questioning a journalist's professional integrity. Would they make comments, for example, about doubting a named doctor? Words have consequences. Professional integrity and personal suffering are not matters for flippancy. Thank you for reading.

Hi Michele. First of all, I'm sorry to hear you are suffering from what seems to be Covid, and I wish you a speedy recovery if possible.

And for the record...

Doctors did extensive tests. A Cambodian neurologist trained in Vietnam held up a brain scan, pointed at what he called “white matter” and told me I also had dementia.

I certainly felt demented.

1. If you want people to question the factual aspects of an article you write, definitely start it out by telling us that a doctor diagnosed you with dementia, and that you certainly felt demented.

michele.nayman wrote: ↑Wed Apr 28, 2021 6:03 am In fact, I held back on all the details precisely to avoid people's disbelief.

2. I find it a bit questionable that you held back on details for the sole reason of making it appear more believable. Seems like a 'journalist' who would omit details to make a story more believable might also be willing to add details with the intent of making it more believable. I expect journalists to include the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, for no other reason that it's the right thing to do, not in an effort 'to avoid people's disbelief.'


3. Even the publication calls it an 'OPINION' piece. I don't think you should have an issue with people not agreeing with your OPINION.

michele.nayman wrote: ↑Thu Apr 29, 2021 3:13 am As far as the administrator of the site goes: would you allow comments that criticise the integrity of other professionals -- a doctor or a lawyer, say? I wouldn't advise it.

4. Um, yes, of course. Do you agree with the doctor who diagnosed you with dementia? If yes, then shouldn't sane people question anything you write? If no, then aren't you yourself criticizing the integrity of a doctor?

michele.nayman wrote: ↑Thu Apr 29, 2021 3:13 am Impugning someone's professional integrity is legally actionable.

5. Are you joking? You must be. There is no way that a journalist of 50 years could think that people saying they don't believe your article (that starts out saying you were diagnosed with dementia) might not be factually accurate. What, you think you can sue people for not believing you?

michele.nayman wrote: ↑Wed Apr 28, 2021 6:24 am Some naked misogyny in the comments. That doesn't surprise me. I'm 65. Things havent changed much in that department, esprcially among Caucasian males in Asis.

6. Lol, don't get me started. Not a single person even suggested that the reason they didn't believe every detail in your opinion piece is because you're a woman. It never ceases to amaze me that the people who are so quick to yell 'sexism' where there clearly isn't any are also the first ones to start on about 'Caucasian males...'

But we do thank you for coming on here. We greatly value the opinions of everyone, even if we don't all agree with each other, or even believe them. I liked your article and learned a bit more about 'long Covid' as well and truly hope you continue to recover.

I had no idea that I was under a legal obligation to believe everything a person says just because they are a journalist. There was me thinking most newspapers were padded out with made up shit.

Chad Sexington wrote: ↑Fri Apr 30, 2021 4:03 pm I had no idea that I was under a legal obligation to believe everything a person says just because they are a journalist. There was me thinking most newspapers were padded out with made up shit.

Well, there's news and opinion and in this case, it was the latter..

Journalists believe news and opinion are separate, but readers can’t tell the difference

It is a tenet of American journalism that reporters working for the news sections of newspapers remain entirely independent of the opinion sections. But the divide between news and opinion is not as clear to many readers as journalists believe that it is.

And because American news consumers have become accustomed to the ideal of objectivity in news, the idea that opinions bleed into the news report potentially leads readers to suspect that reporters have a political agenda, which damages their credibility, and that of their news organizations.

Online opinions, changing norms and blurred lines
With the expansion of opinion pages online, the Times was publishing 120 opinion pieces a week at the time of James Bennet’s resignation.

While the move online allows The New York Times op-ed page to vastly increase its output, it also creates a problem: Opinion stories no longer look clearly different from news stories.

With many readers coming to news sites from social media links, they may not pay attention to the subtle clues that mark a story published by the opinion staff.

Full: https://theconversation.com/journalists ... nce-140901

I was, indeed, diagnosed with Covid and Long Covid. Hope that you avoid it.

Long Covid: Major study into the long term impact launched in Scotland
Published 2 hours ago

Every adult who has tested positive for Covid-19 in Scotland is to be invited to take part in a major new study into the effects of long Covid.

Researchers hope to identify how many people in Scotland continue to be unwell after having the virus.

The Covid in Scotland Study (CISS) will ask people what their symptoms are and how it affects their lives.

Those taking part will be asked to use a phone app to answer questions about their health before and after Covid.

Early estimates suggest as many as 6,000 people in Scotland were experiencing long term symptoms after the first wave of the pandemic but it is not known what that tally is now.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-57077868