Bad writing kills
"Peterson isn't against all vaccines -- she and her daughters have already gotten the seasonal flu vaccine, for example. But she is concerned about mercury in some of the new vaccine varieties. Thimerosal, a mercury preservative found in the multi-dose vial H1N1 vaccines, has been controversially linked to autism, though no studies have proved that theory. Peterson said she is also concerned about the toxicity of mercury."
source
When I took a class on Science Writing, it was as much a class discussing the philosophy of conveying science to the non-scientific public as it was the actual practice of writing. There's a trend in journalism to treat both sides of an opinion as having equal merit that seems to play out often in science writing. I'd call it a false dichotomy but I don't think that's quite the fallacy I'm looking for here (false equivalence?).
The treatment of creationists and scientists as being equal is one example; the media that treated Obama birth conspiracy theorists as being as valid as those who said they were wrong is another.
The highlighted part of the above quote makes me seethe with frustration - they act as if both sides of the story are equal. In fact, multiple studies have concluded there is not causality between Thimerosal and autism. By treating both sides as potentially correct, by not calling out the wrongness of the argument, CNN is encouraging more clueless readers to consider not vaccinating their children. It's somewhat pointless to expect media to be non-partisan in its political reporting, but when it comes to health, it's flat out wrong to spread bad information and ideas.
There's also the tendency to treat everyone as if their opinions were equally valid. After all, someone in sales knows as much as doctors who've spent their lives working on infectious degrees, right?
Footnote the first: It's not unfair to question the safety of a new flu vaccine, see the incidents of Guillain-Barré syndrome after the 1976 vaccinations. But this is different than that.
Footnote the second: Even if there *was* a valid concern with Thimerosal, the inhaled and some of the injected varieties *don't* have it.
Footnote the third: Added rant.. "Still, nearly 60 percent of those who say they don't think they'll get vaccinated would change their minds if there were sickness or death in their community, the study found." Guess what? There's prolly sickness in their community right now.
Footnote the forth: The Daily Show takes on CNN for not calling out people.