Here is the Daisy Chain:
Original Article, “Could Wearable Computers be as Harmful as Cigarettes” in the Styles Section, changed later in the day to the more milquetoast-sounding “Health Concerns of Wearable Tech” with Public Editor’s follow-up rebuke (and why was it in the Styles Section and not the Science Times?!?!): http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/19/style/could-wearable-computers-be-as-harmful-as-cigarettes.html?_r=0
NYT Public Editor’s blog post, tweet and responses to tweet: http://publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/03/19/a-tech-column-on-wearable-gadgets-draws-fire-as-pseudoscience/
https://twitter.com/Sulliview/status/579051306561769472
Dr. Louis Slesin’s article in Microwave News about the Brouhaha, “Ignorance Drowns Out Precaution: NY Times Tech Columnist Has Hands Slapped”: http://www.microwavenews.com/news-center/ignorance-drowns-out-precaution
FYI- back in December 2014, fashion maven Diane von Furstenberg has publicly questioned whether wearable technology is safe: http://qz.com/313039/the-question-we-havent-been-asking-enough-about-wearables-will-they-make-us-sick/
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Other past radiation denialism from the NYT:
“Conflicts of Interest in Coverage of a Health Issue by the New York Times” Huffington Post article by investigative journalist Paul Brodeur: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-brodeur/new-york-times-power-line-coverage_b_6314400.html
Dr. Joel Moskowitz’ letter to the Public Editor (unanswered) about the NYT power line coverage: https://www.facebook.com/SaferEMR/posts/817733804942257
NYT 1988 article: “Suffolk Reckless Screen Scream” (NYT was fending off a lawsuit from employees who said they were sickened by VDT’s and wrote this article pooh-pooh-ing the science without disclosing their conflict…shortly thereafter, Kaiser Pemanente came out with a report confirming VDT’s were making people sick and they were yanked off the market shortly thereafter: http://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/26/opinion/suffolk-s-reckless-screen-scream.html
The Felicity Barringer NYT Tin Foil Hat articles: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/31/science/earth/31meters.html?pagewanted=all
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/01/are-we-hard-wired-to-doubt-science/
Response to Felicity Barringer NYT Tin Foil Hat articles: http://stopsmartmeters.org/2013/01/02/21st-century-science-denial%e2%80%a8-part-i-psychopolitical-paranoia/
http://stopsmartmeters.org/2013/05/06/21st-science-denial-part-iii-rise-of-the-machines/
QUESTION: Why are we rolling things out without pre-market safety testing them and in fact with evidence that levels of this radiation emitted by these devices are neurotoxic and carcinogenic? Even if this evidence didn’t exist, it makes no sense for the NYT and the new media cohorts who tarred and feathered Bilton to effectively demand that we not criticize this technology now and “wait for evidence” later. The new media reports referenced in the NYT public editor’s blog post suggest that for many, questioning their favorite toys is like threatening a dog to take away a favorite bone.
Why would the NYT be this obtuse? Brodeur gives his take above. Something else to consider: the NYT’s largest non-family investor is Carlos Slim Helu, the CEO of Telmex and América Móvil, which accounted for $49b of net worth in 2010 — His current net worth is $71.2 billion).
Obviously newspapers have broadly embraced mobile technologies by which their readers increasingly get news, entertainment, and everything else. It just might be a little too hard for the New York Times and Carlos Slim Helu to accept the proposition that NYT’s business model and Slim Helu’s main source of wealth has deleterious effects on health.