The past two months have seen extraordinary news coverage of CFIDS. The developments following the Inspector General's (IG) report on misspending at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) continued to generate news reports, all of which have been sympathetic toward the illness. Also, coverage of the Women's Cup soccer tournament has resulted in a number of profiles of Michelle Akers, the veteran star of the team. Those stories, while focused on Michelle's extraordinary courage, have portrayed CFIDS as a serious and poorly understood illness with essentially no viable treatments. Here are some of the highlights:

IG/CDC coverage
June 21, Air Force Times.
June 3, The Hartford (Conn.) Courant, "Chronic Fatigue Research Funds Were Diverted," by Thomas D. Williams. Local PWCs Todd Dyer and Michelle Lapuk were interviewed. "Research to help young people such as Dyer (will be delayed) because the CDC never got a study of adolescents started as had been planned."
May 28, ABC TV, "Good Morning, America."
May 28, Washington Post, "Audit Reveals CDC Misled Congress About Funds," by Valerie Strauss. The CFIDS Association's Kim Kenney: "I won't be relieved until I see what the agency does in terms of both restoring the money that was misspent and making sure the research is back on track." This article was also published in Charlotte, N.C., Seattle, Wash., and elsewhere.
May, 26, Fox News. The Washington, D.C., Fox TV station led its 10 p.m. newscast with the story and sent the report to the affiliates around the country for use on local news shows. The CDC's Bill Reeves: "This is a serious disease...I blew the whistle because I believe this research is important."
May 24, US News. Rep. John Porter's aide objected to the CDC's "bait-and-switch tactics" and said: "We consider lying to Congress a very serious matter."
May 17, Congressional Quarterly Daily Monitor, "Probe Finds CDC Misled Congress on Use of Funds."
May 16, Boston Globe, "Funding for Chronic Fatigue Diverted," by Richard Knox.

Michelle Akers coverage
June 24, Chicago Tribune, "Akers calls on power from within to keep going," by Bonnie DeSimone. Describing the worse period of illness, in the early 1990s, the article states: "Constantly drained, plagued with migraine headaches, she found it difficult to do the simplest household tasks."
June 22, Los Angeles Times, "Achingly Good: Despite her battle with chronic fatigue, Akers has shown inexhaustible courage," by Grahame L. Jones. The team doctor, Mark Adams, was quoted: "It wasn't that other players didn't suffer to stay at the top. It was take that and multiply if by 10 for Michelle. Every aspect...nutrition, hydration, fatigue, all of that was sort of raised to a new level."
June 4, Washington Post, "Akers's Exhausting Opponent: U.S. Soccer Star Battles Chronic Fatigue Syndrome."
May 24, Parade. An interview with Michelle Akers on soccer, God and her battle with CFIDS.

Other articles
April 25, The Lufkin (Texas) Daily News, "Frame of Mind," by Valerie Culp Wilkerson. Showcased the unique framed watercolors of artist Russ Havard and described his five-year struggle with CFIDS. Havard had to re-invent his artwork to fit into the limits of his illness. He now paints tiny images or long, narrow works, which he can do in bed. Many of the works convey a message about his illness.

Thanks to those who have been working with the media to increase awareness of CFIDS. The CFIDS Public Relations (CPR) Team helps to monitor the media and responds to particularly positive or troublesome news reports.  Please clip articles about CFIDS, note the name and date of the publication, and send to CPR Team,  PO Box 220398, Charlotte NC 28222-0398. To join the team and receive alerts about media coverage, send a note to that address or E-mail to kphopkins@cfids.org.