New Move to Expand Euthanasia in the Netherlands – Associated Press and DutchNews.nl Misrepresent Dutch Practice

November 17, 2011Associated Press, DutchNews.nl, euthanasia, journalistic ethics, Netherlands, Our News & Commentary Blog, reality checkStephen Drake

…s). This time at least some of the misinformation was generated by a Dutch news source. News sources in the Netherlands tend to be biased – naturally – in favor of the euthanasia practices in that country, but are generally accurate when describing the “strict guidelines” and eligibility criteria. Not this time. Here is how eligibility is described in the DutchNews.nl article titled Voluntary euthanasia group plans to set up ‘help to die’ teams: E…

Breaking News: Jack Kevorkian in Hospital

May 19, 2011assisted suicide, Kevorkian, media coverage, Our News & Commentary Blog, reality checkStephen Drake

…appointed that Kevorkian would be released in June. “We won’t forget the struggling disabled people he preyed upon. And we won’t be silent,” the group said in a statement. It added that it expected that the 78-year-old Kevorkian, after leaving prison, will show a “near-miraculous `recovery’” from his health problems, which include diabetes, hepatitis C, high blood pressure, hardening of the arteries in his brain and vertigo, according to his attor…

Breaking News: NH Hampshire House Rejects Assisted Suicide Bill

January 14, 2010assisted suicide, legislation, New Hampshire, Our News & Commentary BlogStephen Drake

…This was expected, but it’s still feels good to see it happen. The vote was 242-113. You can read the AP report here….

Alternet: Ann Neumann’s Disingenuous Complaints About the State of the Euthanasia Debate

February 18, 2010Ann Neumann, assisted suicide, culture wars, Disability Bitch, euthanasia, Homicide / 'Mercy Killing', Our News & Commentary Blog, reality check, satire, United Kingdom, william peaceStephen Drake

…a few days ago, I heard someone from a pro life campaign group telling ITV news, “Killing people is illegal.” It seems the world needs reminding of these simple things. So, for the sake of clarity: I’m Disability Bitch, and I do hate the world and everything in it, but I don’t want to die anytime soon. It’s no surprise my No-Legged mate thinks I might want to glide off this mortal coil sooner rather than later. The thing is, I don’t. I quite like…

Final Exit Network Members Passing Off “Boilerplate” Op-eds As Original Work?

March 31, 2009ethics, final exit network, media coverage, media issues, Our News & Commentary BlogStephen Drake

…t was an eye-opener is that I had already read parts of Fanning’s column – word for word – in a March 19th op-ed by former FEN president Earl Wettstein, published in the Arizona Daily Star. These op-eds or columns run between 500-600 words, so the following passages (and these are just the best examples) represent a significant portion of these “original” works: The media is calling the four people involved a “ring,” an obviously pejorative word….