re: #1 lawhawk

Yes, the New York Times is now walking it back.

Ezra Klein, on the other hand, continues to insist Vox reported the story accurately.

huffingtonpost.com

But in a Tuesday email to The Huffington Post, Vox Editor-in-Chief Ezra Klein defended his site’s headline — “Obama supports vaccines now — but pandered to anti-vaxxers in 2008” — and its framing of Obama’s response.

There seem to be two things going on here. One is who Obama was gesturing towards. The video is clear that Obama is gesturing towards a member of the audience. The other issue, which is where the post focuses, is Obama’s comment that the science is inconclusive around the rise of autism. I think the video there is clear that Obama is saying more research is needed into that question, including into theories, like the one from the audience member, that vaccines play a role. As Sarah writes, by that point, the science was quite conclusive.

Which is to say, Obama was asked a question by a vaccine skeptic about the link with autism. He said the science around the question was inconclusive rather than saying ‘there is absolutely no reason to believe, even for a second, that vaccines are linked to autism,’ though, from other comments, that appears to be what Obama believed. When you soften your answer so as not to offend a possible voter, that’s pandering.