FAN Bulletins special
 
November 27, 2007
 
Dear All,
 
Still on the road in Italy. Yesterday I received from Kevin of the Save Our Water group in the Isle of Man the URL and details of the broadcast of an edited version (one hour in length) of the debate I had with Professor Michael Lennon, chairman of the British Fluoridation Society on the Isle of Man held on Tuesday November 20.
 
Kevin writes:

“Manx Radio broadcast their edited version of the public meeting today on the ‘Sunday Opinion’ show.  Afterwards calls were taken from listeners via the ‘Mannin Line’ show.
 
The 2 shows combined ran for 2 hours and despite a request from the presenter not a single call came in from a supporter of fluoridation!
 
Both shows are now available for download from the Manx Radio ‘Listen Again’ feature.   To locate the programmes from the ‘Sunday Shows’ schedule (look for Sunday Opinion) and right click. Happy listening.”
 
Happy listening indeed!
 
What a joyful difference it is to see a radio station so fully involved in this matter and giving their listeners both sides of the debate and plenty of opportunity to voice their opinions. It reminds us that for democracy to thrive we require the media to their job professionally. When this happens we usually win. We saw this so clearly in Juneau, Alaska where the local newspaper did a stirling job giving both sides plenty of space to discuss their views. So much so that even though proponents weighed in with over 150,000 dollars of TV advertising the voters there voted against fluoridation 2 to 1. I suspect, despite Professor Lennon’s claim that voters are 60-80% for fluoridation in opinion polls in the UK (and we know how some of  these self-serving polls are organized), that we would get a similar result in our favor if a vote was organized on the Isle of Man today. Hopefully the parliamentarians will have sensed this overwhelming public opinion against fluoridation already and call a stop to the one sided promotion campaign by the DHSS without further delay and thereby end unnecessary public costs.
 
Paul Connett