Thread by @wiczipedia

On the death of Colin Powell (a short thread):

One thing I have been perversely grateful for during the pandemic is that my father did not live to see it. He died of complications from Multiple Myeloma in 2011; this blood/bone marrow cancer wreaks havoc on the immune system.

Colin Powell also suffered from multiple myeloma. Any reporting that mentions Powell's COVID-19 vaccination status but not that his body was essentially unable to fight infections is not doing its due diligence.

Sending my condolences to his family.

(And yes, before you ask, several of the "biggest" news outlets in our country don't mention that he suffered from myeloma. It's appalling, fear-mongering, and endemic of the poor reporting and shallow discourse that has in part contributed to vaccine hesitancy in the US.)

If you want to donate to a great charity that does research to cure this horrible disease, I suggest @theMMRF, where I channeled a lot of my grief after my dad died, raising tens of thousands during their annual 5ks. themmrf.org

@theMMRF And you know what, these outlets deserve to be called out-
@CNN
@washingtonpost
@nytimes
@NPR
@thehill
@FoxNews
@Forbes
@McClatchyDC

...all had obits ready to go, but none mention his cancer status. Critical context simply missing from these reports.

@theMMRF @CNN @washingtonpost @nytimes @NPR @thehill @FoxNews @Forbes @McClatchyDC Yo @Twitter, suggest you update this trending to include Powell's cancer status

@theMMRF @CNN @washingtonpost @nytimes @NPR @thehill @FoxNews @Forbes @McClatchyDC @Twitter Suggestions for anyone struggling to write informative headlines:
HED: Colin Powell, who suffered from cancer, dies from COVID-19 complications
DEK: The former Sec State had a blood and bone marrow cancer that affected his body's ability to fight infections

Also, important to underline this isn't just a John Roberts/Fox News problem. Sigh. :(

Good on @nytimes for this update