How Media lies about Cancer

MEDIA AND CANCER

J N Mukherjee

Fresh from the frying pan of our ‘No.1’ Bengali daily, Anandabazar can help you understand its heinous design of suppressing Cancer truth. In its 15^th August 2014 supplement titled ‘Manchhi Na’ (do not accept) it wanted to introduce certain persons / organizations who do not accept different traditional norms / practices in our society. Soma Mukherjee’s assignment was to tell readers about those who are totally against allopathic mode of treatments. Her article titled ‘Tetopathy hush!’ is a classic example of treachery masked in friendship. Look, what she wrote about a ‘Mumbai based organization’, which, for more than a decade, has been helping cancer patient to live with their Cancer without undermining modern cancer treatment. She wrote: “An organization based in Mumbai has been propagating for more than a decade that without undergoing any cancer treatment, not even taking a single chemo, cancer patients can comparatively stay healthy for a longer period. According to them, Chemo, Surgery or radiation only enhances pain but cannot help diminishing cancer even a bit.” “Astonishingly” Soma wrote, “some allopath supported their views.” But she omitted informing anything particular about that organization. Naturally, interested readers in general and cancer patients in particular, will be unable to contact them. Why she skipped providing vital information to her readers?  Not only that, if you read between the lines of her whole article, you will arrive at the conclusion that the said organization is not merely 'propagating' but actually practicing what they preach. How come “certain allopath” are “supporting their views?” Certainly they are convinced that Cancer patients are comparatively living longer without any traditional Cancer treatment.

I do not know whether Soma Mukherjee intentionally messed up herself or it’s the age-old ploy of our No.1 daily, whose survival depends on fetching advertisements from cancer establishment.

We shall have to prick the crafty bubble emitted because of unholy nexus between cancer establishment/ cancer specialist and media. We hope, Ekak Matra’s Nov. 2014 issue (CANCER: The Other Ideas) will certainly help readers understand their concoction concerning cancer and its cure and how this nexus is thriving  by spreading FUND about it (where F Stands for Fear, U for Uncertainly, N for Nervousness and D for Doubt.)