Is Sarah Wilson anti-vaccination?

The short answer is NO. So is the longer one.

Consider this An Open Letter to Journalists Who Find Themselves A Little Confused. I’ll do this little “cheat sheet” in bullets because, frankly, I don’t have the patience for pleasantries. And I figure I need to get to the point clearly. It seems many journalists are very confused.

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Photograph by Sheena Jibson

1. I have never said I’m anti-vaccination. Dozens of journalists have claimed that I am, regurgitating each others’ incorrect stories. None have bothered to contact me for comment. Or bothered to Google the topic. If they did, they’d find this.

2. I am pro-vaccination. And have written as such.

3. This is something journalists need to know:

When journalists claim I’m anti-vax they are “creating” a poster girl for the movement.

This is incredibly irresponsible and gives power to the very movement they’re railing against.

4. I have had enough of being put up as that poster girl and will be taking action to have stories corrected when it does happen. I have requested the Herald Sun pull down their latest effort by Susie O’Brien (who also, curiously, refers to “raw milk-drinking vegans”). For instance.

5. Context is king. References to me voicing the anti-vax argument were made in the context of having being asked on Sunrise back in early 2013 to explain the reasons that parents from a wealthy suburb in Sydney were giving for not vaccinating their children. I explained what their reasoning was, drawing on the news link in question, as well as

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