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Letter: Sharyl Attkisson responds to claims

A viewer drew my attention to a false and damaging comment one of your readers apparently made about me in a letter to the editor.
Someone named Charlie Allen wrote: Sharyl Attkisson is an anti-vaxxer who has been called the least objective journalist out there. The Benghazi investigation, led for years by right-wing nuts, found nothing after years of slimy charges. 

I most certainly am not an “anti-vaxxer” and have never expressed anti-vaccine views. As an investigative reporter, I have covered vaccine safety issues, including an interview with CDC acknowledging a possible link between vaccines and autism. There have been propaganda efforts from vaccine industry interests to falsely label me as “anti-vaccine.” However, my reporting on vaccines has been favorably cited in the New England Journal of Medicine, and received a finalist award from the independent Investigative Reporters and Editors association. My whole family is fully vaccinated. Making the false claim that I am “anti-vaccine” is untrue and damaging to my reputation as a journalist.

Secondly, even among the propagandists, I am not aware that anyone has called me the “least objective journalist out there.” To the contrary, my work has been recognized with five Emmy awards, an Edward R. Murrow investigative award. My most recent Emmy was for a series that included an undercover investigation into Republican fundraising. I have also received Emmy awards and nominations for stories on Red Cross fraud, Fast and Furious, wasteful spending by Congress, fraudulent aid spending in Haiti, the Bush administration’s bait and switch on TARP, and numerous other stories.



Lastly, it is false that the Benghazi investigation “found nothing.” In fact, my Benghazi reporting received an investigative Emmy award nomination from an independent group of national judges. The documentary record shows, among other findings, that there was a concerted effort to cover up the terrorist nature of the Benghazi attacks. This is undisputed, including by Obama administration officials I interviewed for my stories.

Sharyl Attkisson

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