NaturalNews

Natural News
Web address http://www.naturalnews.com
Slogan Natural Health News & Self-Reliance
Commercial? Nutraceuticals
Type of site
 Blog
Available in English
Owner Mike Adams
Created by Mike Adams
Alexa rank
 1,836[1]

Natural News (formerly Newstarget) is a website founded and operated by Mike Adams. It is based in Cedar Creek, Texas.[2]

It is dedicated to the sale of various dietary supplements, promotion of alternative medicine, controversial nutrition and health claims,[3] and various conspiracy theories,[4] such as "chemtrails", the purported dangers of fluoride in drinking water[5] (as well as those of monosodium glutamate[6] and aspartame), and purported health problems caused by allegedly "toxic" ingredients in vaccines,[3] including the now-discredited link to autism.[7]

Characterized as a "conspiracy-minded alternative medicine website", Natural News has approximately 7 million unique visitors per month.[8] Founder Mike Adams has been accused of using sockpuppet accounts to fraudulently increase the vote count in his self-nomination for a Shorty Award. The journal Vaccine accused Adams of spreading "irresponsible health information" through Natural News. He has also been accused of using "pseudoscience to sell his lies".[9]

Its founder, Michael Allen "Mike" Adams is an AIDS denialist, a 9/11 truther, a birther[10] and endorsed conspiracy theories surrounding the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting,[11]

Notable stories

In 2011, Adams posted a report on Natural News which stated that many blueberry food products did not contain real blueberries.[12][13]

In 2013, Adams posted an article describing what he saw when he examined Chicken McNuggets under a microscope. He said in the article that the patterns he saw included "dark black hair-like structures" and a round algae-like object.[14][15]

In July 2014 Adams compared media outlets that wrote positively about GMOs with Nazi Germany's propagandists, calling them, "Monsanto collaborators who have signed on to accelerate heinous crimes being committed against humanity under the false promise of 'feeding the world' with toxic GMOs." He continued with a statement that he set in boldface: "that it is the moral right — and even the obligation — of human beings everywhere to actively plan and carry out the killing of those engaged in heinous crimes against humanity."[16][17] A day after the post a website called "Monsanto Collaborator" appeared online which listed the names of scientists and journalists who allegedly collaborate with the bio industry.[18]

Founder

Michael Allen "Mike" Adams (born 1967 in Lawrence, Kansas),[19] the self-described "Health Ranger", is the founder and owner of Natural News. According to his own website his interest in alternative nutrition was sparked by developing type II diabetes at the age of 30 and "completely curing" himself using natural remedies. He is a raw foods enthusiast and holistic nutritionist. He claims to eat no processed foods, dairy, sugar, meat from mammals or food products containing additives such as Monosodium glutamate (MSG).[20] He also says he avoids use of prescription drugs and visits to Western medical doctors.[21]

Adams is an AIDS denialist, a 9/11 truther, a birther[10] and endorsed conspiracy theories surrounding the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting,[11] as well as surrounding the Deepwater Horizon oil spill[22] and Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.[23] He has endorsed Burzynski: Cancer Is Serious Business, a movie about Stanislaw Burzynski.[24] Steven Novella characterizes Adams as "a dangerous conspiracy-mongering crank".[5] Adams has also written a favorable review of the pseudoscientific film House of Numbers on Natural News, which is reprinted on the film's website.[25] Adams has also endorsed the books of conspiracy theorist Jim Marrs.[26]

Sockpuppet and vote stacking accusations

Phil Plait accused Adams of using sockpuppet accounts to inflate vote counts in the Shorty Awards (Joseph Mercola was also accused of doing this)[27] specifically in response to a skeptical campaign to upvote Rachael Dunlop. After losing when his fraudulent votes were revoked, he posted articles criticizing the Shorty Awards. Dan Berger draws alt-med cartoons for them, though Adams comes up with the concepts. Adams has also made music videos expressing similar viewpoints as the articles posted on his website, such as opposition to the swine flu vaccine.[28]

Criticism and controversies

According to John Banks, Adams uses "pseudoscience to sell his lies" and is "seen as generally a quack and a shill by science bloggers."[9] One such blogger, David Gorski of ScienceBlogs, called Natural News "one of the most wretched hives of scum and quackery on the Internet," and the most "blatant purveyor of the worst kind of quackery and paranoid anti-physician and anti-medicine conspiracy theories anywhere on the Internet",[29] and a one-stop-shop for "virtually every quackery known to humankind, all slathered with a heaping, helping of unrelenting hostility to science-based medicine and science in general."[8] Peter Bowditch of the website Ratbags,[30] and Jeff McMahon writing for Forbes commented about the site.[31] Steven Novella of NeuroLogica Blog called NaturalNews "a crank alt med site that promotes every sort of medical nonsense imaginable." Novella continued: "If it is unscientific, antiscientific, conspiracy-mongering, or downright silly, Mike Adams appears to be all for it – whatever sells the "natural" products he hawks on his site."[3]

Individuals who commented about Adams' website include astronomer and blogger Phil Plait,[32] PZ Myers,[33] and Mark Hoofnagle.[10] Brian Dunning listed it as #1 on his "Top 10 Worst Anti-Science Websites" list.[34] Adams is listed as a "promoter of questionable methods" by Quackwatch.[35] Robert T. Carroll at The Skeptic's Dictionary said, "Natural News is not a very good source for information. If you don't trust me on this, go to Respectful Insolence or any of the other bloggers on ScienceBlogs and do a search for "Natural News" or "Mike Adams" (who is Natural News). Hundreds of entries will be found and not one of them will have a good word to say about Mike Adams as a source."[36]

Vaccine said the site "tend(s) to not only spread irresponsible health information in general (e.g. discouraging chemotherapy or radiation for cancer treatment, antiretrovirals for HIV, and insulin for diabetes), but also have large sections with dubious information on vaccines."[37]

After Patrick Swayze's death in 2009, Adams posted an article in which he remarked that Swayze, in dying, "joins many other celebrities who have been recently killed by pharmaceuticals or chemotherapy." Commentators of Adams' article on Patrick Swayze included bloggers such as David Gorski[38] and Phil Plait, the latter of whom called Adams' commentary "obnoxious and loathsome."[39] When Angelina Jolie underwent a double mastectomy in May 2013 because she had the BRCA1 gene, Adams stated that "Countless millions of women carry the BRCA1 gene and never express breast cancer because they lead healthy, anti-cancer lifestyles based on smart nutrition, exercise, sensible sunlight exposure and avoidance of cancer-causing chemicals." Gorski called the article "vile" and noted that Adams had written similarly themed articles about the death of Michael Jackson, Tony Snow, and Tim Russert.[40]

In February 2014, Brian Palmer, writing in the Daily Herald of Arlington Heights, Illinois, criticized the site's promotion of alternative medicine treatments, such as bathing in Himalayan salt and eating Hijiki seaweed, and referred to the claims Natural News made about their efficacy as "preposterous."[41] In August 2014, Nathanael Johnson, writing for Grist, dismissed Natural News as "simply not credible" and as "nothing but a conspiracy-theory site."[42]

Ebola controversies

On August 11, 2014, Natural News published a blog post promoting a homeopathic treatment for Ebola, which was met with harsh criticism from several commentators, and was taken down later that day.[43] In a statement on the article, NaturalNews said that the blogger who posted the article, Ken Oftedal, was "under review" and that they did not condone anyone interacting with Ebola.[44] However, as of August 20, 2014, the site was still featuring an article written by Adams promoting the use of herbal medicines to treat Ebola.[45] In an article about "fake Ebola cures", Adams was criticized for arguing that herbs could prove effective as an Ebola treatment.[46]

References

  1. ↑ "Alexa: Naturalnews.com Site Info". Retrieved November 21, 2013.
  2. ↑ Swiatecki, Chad (1 April 2014). "Surge in natural health supplement sales fuel growth for Austin-area company". Austin Business Journal. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Novella, Steven (2010-12-14). "H1N1 Vaccine and Miscarriages – More Fear Mongering". Neurologica (blog). New England Skeptical Society.
  4. ↑ Pearce, Matt (2013-02-07). "Conspiracy theorists harassing, impersonating Aurora victims". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Novella, Steven (2010-01-25). "Mike Adams Takes On 'Skeptics'". Neurologica (blog). New England Skeptical Society.
  6. ↑ Nanditha (2013-07-10). "The bitter truth about MSG". NaturalNews.
  7. ↑ Orac [David Gorski] (2011-10-27). "Mike Adams vs. the flu vaccine". Respectful Insolence. ScienceBlogs. Retrieved 2014-03-11.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Blake, Mariah (25 July 2014). "Popular Anti-Science Site Likens Journalists to "Nazi Collaborators" Over GMO Coverage". Mother Jones. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Banks, John (26 September 2013). "Meet the "Health Ranger" Who's Using Pseudoscience to Sell His Lies". Mic. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Mark [Mark Hoofnagle] (2013-04-01). "Natural News’ Mike Adams Adds Global Warming Denialism to HIV/AIDS denial, Anti-vax, Altie-med, Anti-GMO, Birther Crankery". Denialism (blog). ScienceBlogs. Retrieved 2013-09-25.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Orac [David Gorski] (2013-10-03). "Mike Adams puts Chicken McNuggets 'under the microscope.' Hilarity ensues.". Respectful Insolence. ScienceBlogs. Retrieved 2014-03-11.
  12. ↑ Staff (27 January 2011). "The fake blueberries uproar". The Week. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  13. ↑ "Investigation Finds Many Fruity Foods Don't Contain Real Fruit". Fox News. 26 January 2011. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  14. ↑ "Chicken nuggets under the microscope". News.com.au. 29 August 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  15. ↑ Mariani, John (8 October 2013). "Chicken nugget or chicken little? Study shows fast-food favorite contains less meat, more leftover parts". Syracuse.com. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  16. ↑ Kloor, Keith (22 July 2014). "Mike Adams, Monsanto, Nazis, and a very disturbing article". discovermagazine.com. Retrieved 2014-07-26.
  17. ↑ Kloor, Keith (24 July 2014). "Mike Adams Elevates his Ugly Anti-GMO Campaign". discovermagazine.com.
  18. ↑ Entine, Jon; Raeburn, Paul (25 July 2014). "Mike Adams claims Monsanto set up "kill GMO supporters" website, as scientists, journalists face death threats". The Genetic Literacy Project. Knight Science Journalism Tracker.
  19. ↑ "Health Ranger Profile and History". HealthRanger.com. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  20. ↑ "Media and Press Information". NaturalNews.
  21. ↑ Blatchford, Christie (2009-10-29). "Flu-shot skeptics weave a Web of lies". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2014-12-12.
  22. ↑ Phillips, David (2010-07-13). "More BP Gulf Oil Spill Conspiracies Flourish -- From Algae Farms to Armed Dolphins". CBS News. Retrieved 2014-05-15.
  23. ↑ Phillips, Tom (2014-09-08). "MH370: Six 'reasons' why plane vanished". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2014-09-08.
  24. ↑ Orac [David Gorski] (2012-12-12). "Stanislaw Burzynski: A pioneering cancer researcher or a quack?". Respectful Insolence. ScienceBlogs. Retrieved 2014-03-11.
  25. ↑ Adams, Mike (2009-10-29). "Breakthrough documentary "House of Numbers" challenges conventional thinking on HIV, AIDS". Houseofnumbers.com. Retrieved 2014-02-07.
  26. ↑ Kelly, Christopher (2013-02-17). "Thinking Beyond the Creationists and the Darwinists". New York Times. Retrieved 2014-11-01.
  27. ↑ Plait, Phil (2010-01-23). "Alt Med guy whacked with Shorty end of the stick". Bad Astronomy (blog). Discover. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  28. ↑ Brownstein, Joseph (2009-09-02). "The Swine Flu Goes Mainstream". ABC News. Retrieved 2014-07-20.
  29. ↑ Orac [David Gorski] (2008-08-07). "A fungus among us in oncology?". Respectful Insolence (blog). ScienceBlogs.
  30. ↑ "Natural News". Comment and Opinion. The Millenium Project. RatbagsDotCom, Peter Bowditch. 2010-01-23.
  31. ↑ McMahon, Jeff (2011-04-19) [2011-04-12]. "Does Natural News do Cover-Ups?". Forbes.
  32. ↑ Plait, Phil (2010-12-13). "Mike Adams fails again: Astrology edition". Bad Astronomy (blog). Discover.
  33. ↑ Myers, PZ (2011-05-11). "Mike Adams: Pretentious git, slandering liar". Pharyngula (blog). ScienceBlogs.
  34. ↑ Dunning, Brian (2011-11-08). "Top 10 Worst Anti Science Websites". Skeptoid (podcast). Episode 283. transcript.
  35. ↑ "Promoters of Questionable Methods and/or Advice". Quackwatch. 2013-11-29.
  36. ↑ Carroll, Robert T. (2010-12-30) [2010-12-14]. "Sources: How the WWW allows one person to seem to be many sources--The Eileen Danneman Story". Skeptimedia (blog). skepdic.com [The Skeptic's Dictionary online].
  37. ↑ Kata, Anna (May 2012). "Anti-vaccine activists, Web 2.0, and the postmodern paradigm – An overview of tactics and tropes used online by the anti-vaccination movement". Vaccine 30 (25): 3778. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2011.11.112.
  38. ↑ Orac [David Gorski] (2009-09-16). "Mike Adams adds religious nuttery to his armamentarium as he slimes Patrick Swayze posthumously". Respectful Insolence (blog). Scienceblogs. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  39. ↑ Plait, Phil (2009-09-25). "Alt med ghouls". Bad Astronomy (blog). Discover. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
  40. ↑ Orac [David Gorski] (2013-05-15). "The quack view of preventing breast cancer versus reality and Angelina Jolie". Respectful Insolence (blog). ScienceBlogs. Retrieved 2013-08-02.
  41. ↑ Palmer, Brian (22 February 2014). "Hundreds believe preposterous stories on Facebook". Daily Herald. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  42. ↑ Johnson, Nathanael (29 July 2014). "Don’t believe anything you read at Natural News". Grist. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  43. ↑ Engel, Meredith (11 August 2014). "Website claims to treat Ebola with natural remedy". New York Daily News. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  44. ↑ Champion, Matthew (11 August 2014). "Yes, a website published a 'homeopathic treatment for Ebola' article". The Independent. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  45. ↑ Osborne, Hannah (20 August 2014). "Ebola Outbreak: Woman's 'Healing Powers' Claim Caused Deadly Virus' Spread From Guinea". International Business Times. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  46. ↑ "5 fake Ebola cures that are circulating online right now". Russia Today. 8 October 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2014.

External links