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ListFriends: Rita Weeks' criticisms of the Parade piece are important and defensible. But I would offer a respectful counter-opinion, as a long-time student of media (and, I'm afraid, practitioner of PR). Different articles and different news media do different things. Parade is basically a tabloid-style publication. It's not the Los Angeles Times, not the McNeil Lehrer report, not the science desk at the AP. It is highly unlikely that a piece in Parade--even one authored, as this one was, by a genuine expert like Earl Ubell (heavily edited though it was)--will have much to say to a person as informed and well educated as Ms. Weeks (or for that matter anyone else on our wonderful Toronto ListServ). What is DOES do is flash in front of LESS-well educated (and much more numerous!) readers the simple message that "Parkinson's science and therapy is on the move" and important things are being done. This in turn feeds into the political process, giving people the sense that PD science is a "good" investment. And this is kind of thing is invaluable to the Parkinson's community. Just my opinion. I would be interested in others ... robin elliott, executive director, parkinsons disease foundation