I think that a couple of people here have mentioned contacting PBS
regarding the BF campaign.  A PBS program, "To the Contrary," spent
about 10 minutes talking about BF and the campaign on Mon. Dec. 8th.
I've never seen this program before, so I don't know exactly who the
commentators are.  There were 5 women:  a host, two commentators (one
"liberal" one "conservative"), a congresswoman, and a columnist.   They
discuss news and social trends from women's perspectives.

I thought that the discussion was all over the place--many topics were
mentioned in passing, but nothing was discussed.  They introduced the
segment by saying that "the breastfeeding wars continue".  They gave a
little background info about how two formula companies have been
successful in softening the message of the campaign.  I believe it was
the congresswoman who said the new campaign slogan is "babies were born
to be breastfed."  She mentioned that the campaign was originally
supposed to focus on breastfeeding as the biological norm, and the
consequences of not BF.

They raised some really good points, but didn't follow up on them.  It
seemed like too many points were mentioned in a short amount of time:
should the federal gvt spend $1 million on the campaign; questionable
science behind the campaign; role of the formula companies in softening
the campaign; formula co. as the sponsor of BF statistics; influence of
formula companies on public health message; stigma associated w/ BF in
public--women asked to leave restaurants, etc; lower healthcare costs
when women BF; BF is stressful--it's hard to make enough milk; lack of
support for WOH BF moms; influence of formula companies on the AAP.

Without having any background knowledge, I imagine many viewers would
have been confused.  Although there were several cringe-worthy
comments, at least some of thses issues were actually mentioned on TV.


Deborah Lilly, CCE
Holland, MI


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