January 14, 2016
Telemundo Airs Fluoridation TV Series
Towards
the end of December, the Telemundo television network aired a
three-part news report on water fluoridation on its Atlanta affiliate
station. This is a major development since Telemundo is the second
largest Spanish-language television network and is a trusted news source
in the Hispanic community. The series includes an introduction to the
issue, an interview with a CDC statistician who attempts to explain why
there are no fluorosis records for the Hispanic population, and advice on taking action.
It’s important to remember that in 2011, the largest national Hispanic civil rights organization, the League of Latin American Citizens (LULAC) passed a resolution calling for an end to fluoridation.
The broadcasts can be seen on the following links:
The
series is the result of the organizing work of Dan Stockin of the Lille
Center in Georgia, who provided the following message:
Hispanic Media Awakens to Fluoridegate and Fluoridation Harm
Hi
- this is Daniel Stockin of The Lillie Center. As you may know, we've
worked very hard at The Lillie Center to educate the African American
community about disproportionate harm to communities of color from water
fluoridation, but we have also done work to reach out to the Latino
community. (My wife is Hispanic and I grew up with many Hispanic
friends). I wanted to let you know of a really super development that
has far-reaching implications. I was fortunate to speak with the anchor
of Atlanta's Telemundo news. For those that don't know, Telemundo is a
major news and programming outlet for Hispanics here in the U.S. Now
Telemundo Atlanta has produced a three-part series in Spanish that aired
recently. (In CDC's backyard!) I wanted to ask everyone in the
anti-fluoridation community to take a moment to check these out.
Unfortunately we don't have an English transcript of these pieces yet,
but while the story is still new I wanted to ask folks to send the links
below to every Hispanic TV station, radio station, newspaper, or
website in your area. It's worth seeing these, even if you don't speak
Spanish. See below for info as to what's covered. There is a lot here
that can be done by other outlets to produce other stories on harm to
Hispanics from drinking fluoridated water.
The
series is called: Drinking Water or Poison? For the first time, CDC was
put on the defensive about fluoridation harm to Latinos, AND an
interview happened at CDC! The first piece introduces the issue
and features environmental leader Laura Seydel, myself, and Kathy
Thiessen. Pieces of the Fluoridegate and Our Daily Dose documentaries
are cut in. The second piece has an interview with the CDC Oral Health
researcher involved in telling us that 41% of 12-15 year olds have
dental fluorosis. I always wondered why the data told us fluorosis info
by age group, but not by race. Why would they collect age data but not
race data? Why not share race data, unless doing so created a problem?
Then we found out that CDC wasn't keen on sharing that info...and
Freedom of Information Act documents let slip that they do know that
blacks have way more fluorosis than whites...but why no info shared on
fluorosis in Hispanics? The CDC rep here actually says there is no data.
And if you believe that, well... you shouldn't. The third piece tells
people how they can take action and how they can contact the Nidel law
firm if they have dental fluorosis. The station put up pics of fluorosis
on their facebook page. Wahoo! This coverage has been worth all the
trips down into Atlanta.
Please
forward this everywhere -- also to Hispanic city council members,
legislators, and U.S. senators and congress reps. And if you'd like to
send a thank you to Telemundo, here's the news
division: noticias@telemundoatlanta.com In the subject line you could
mention Fluoride or its Spanish version: Fluoruro. Send your email in
English - they have people like anchor Lara Carolina Fernandez there who
are bilingual. I think she should get an award for courageously
breaking this story in the Hispanic media.
Wow, am I glad this is finally out there, for folks to see.
Daniel G. Stockin, MPH
http://www.nextstagescience.org/
News You May Have Missed
Sincerely,
Stuart Cooper
Campaign Manager
Fluoride Action Network
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