Media Watch
A report on coverage of CFIDS in the mainstream media

AFP article.
American Family Physician (AFP), the clinical journal of the American Academy of Family Physicians, published an article in its March 15 issue providing medical professionals with information on evaluation, possible causes and management of CFIDS . AFP has more than 100,000 subscribers.

Magazine recognizes Awareness Day.
A leading women’s health and exercise magazine, Fitness, ran a short mention of CFIDS in its April issue. The item, timed to coincide with CFIDS/ME Awareness Day, mentions the symptoms and prevalence rate of CFIDS and lists the CFIDS Association’s Web address as a source for more information.

Pediatric CFIDS featured.
NewsProNet, a service that provides news stories to more than 100 local affiliate television stations across the U.S. , has interviewed CFIDS Association President and CEO Kim Kenney for a story on pediatric CFIDS. Television stations that subscribe to NewsProNet receive video and audio that can be used, whole or in part, in their broadcasts. So far, the pediatric story has run on at least two major NBC affiliates.

PWCs in Canada.
The April 15 health section of Maclean’s, a respected Canadian news and business magazine, ran a story on CFIDS and profiled several people with CFIDS (PWCs). The article presents a compassionate picture of the struggles and prejudices PWCs there face. It also highlights how CFIDS is still widely misunderstood and misdiagnosed.

PWC letter to the editor.
The Oregonian newspaper published a letter to the editor written by PWC Marjorie Pandit Ji on May 11. She wrote about how CFIDS has impacted her lifestyle and how stigma still surrounds the name of the illness.

General Mills Web site.
General Mills, a well-known Fortune 500 company, has included a camera-ready print article released by the Association through the North American Precis Syndicate (NAPS) on its Web site. The article has also appeared in more than 50 newspapers in 22 different states with a combined readership of more than 28 million.

Radio news release.
The Association sent a radio release on CFIDS to more than 6,000 U.S. radio stations in time for Awareness Day on May 12. So far, the release has been aired more than 200 times.

Laura Hillenbrand, PWC and author of the best-selling book “Seabiscuit: An American Legend,”
has again helped to raise awareness of CFIDS by appearing in a national ad sponsored by Ponds Skincare. The ad features Laura and three other notable women, actresses Gloria Reuben and Amy Brenneman and singer/songwriter Carole King, and was published in the June 2002 issues of Vanity Fair, Allure and Self magazines.

The ad is a special advertising section for Ponds’ new Dramatic Results skin care product line, and the women featured are presented as individuals who have “earned their lines” through their impressive achievements.

Each of the four women in the ad are honored with a full-page photograph and caption explaining why their lives have been extraordinary. The text with Laura’s photograph focuses on her battle with CFIDS and the debilitating nature of the symptoms.