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Summer 2000
Media Watch
A report on coverage of CFIDS in the mainstream media.
San Francisco Chronicle corrects
misperceptions. In an article in the May 12 issue, reporter Dorothy
Wall emphasizes that chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS) is
one of the most misunderstood chronic illnesses of our time.
She debunks
some of the major myths and gives readers a compelling picture of what CFIDS is
really like. “Imagine feeling exhausted after walking two blocks, having chronic
sore throats and muscle and joint pain. Imagine your head feels stuffed with wet
sand,” she says. “And imagine that these ailments last for years.”
The
CFIDS Association of America worked with Wall on the article for Awareness Day,
and the Association’s contact information was included.
Board member featured. Patti
Schmidt, a person with CFIDS (PWC) and CFIDS Association board member, recently
helped educate physical therapists and other rehabilitation professionals by
being interviewed for the July issue of Advance for Directions in
Rehabilitation. The magazine used Patti’s story as the cover article, which
helped bring added visibility for the illness with this important group of
professionals.
Reuters covers GAO report. Although the recent
release of a General Accounting Office (GAO) report on the federal government’s
CFIDS programs did not attract a great deal of media attention, it was picked up
by Reuters. Reporter Steve Mitchell points out in a June 23 story that the GAO
faulted the CDC and NIH for not having adequate communication on CFIDS research
and not joining forces to conduct research. For more on the GAO report,
see article in this issue.
CFS on the web. Health-SCOUT, an
online medical information service, posted an article on CFIDS on April 29.
Jennifer Thomas, a Health-SCOUT reporter, discusses the symptoms and how
individuals with CFIDS are frequently misdiagnosed or disbelieved by medical
professionals.
CFIDS Association staff member Vicki Walker is quoted as
saying, “This is a medical illness…you can’t just be stressed out and
overworked. It is a debilitating fatigue that interferes with your life.”
PWC interviewed for Focus on the Family.
Linda McCulloch, a PWC from Colorado, was interviewed by the
Christian radio show “Focus on the Family.” Watch the Chronicle for information
about the air date for the show or visit the Focus web
site. Thanks go out to those who are working with the media to
increase awareness of CFIDS. The CFIDS Public Relations (CPR) Team helps to
monitor and respond to media coverage. Please clip articles about CFIDS and send
them to CPR Team, PO Box 220398, Charlotte NC 28222-0398.
Participate in Make a
Difference Day
Last year I was working on a project to set up a web site
for the Utah CFIDS Association and decided to post it on the national
Make a Difference Day web
site. We were the only CFIDS or fibromyalgia (FM) project
listed.
Undertaking a service project is an easy way to get local
publicity for this illness. Our community newspaper gave great coverage to local
projects listed on the site, and we were also contacted by The Wall Street
Journal, which saw our listing as they were working on a story about
Internet use. This year, Make a Difference Day is October 28. It would be great
to see CFIDS and FM projects listed.
Even very simple projects like
distributing information to a local library can be posted on the Make a
Difference Day web site. It is a good idea to post your project on the Make a
Difference Day site early, since in 1999 more than 7,000 projects were included,
and prizes were awarded to the top four. Keep in mind that every Wal-Mart store
has $1,000 available to help with community-oriented projects—money can be
applied for after September 1.
—Faith Wong, Ogden, Utah
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