http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/blogs/...207-18ny6.html
But, as Spider-man’s uncle once said, with great power comes great responsibility. And Oprah doesn’t always use her power responsibly. In fact, watching her show could be bad for your health.
Sadly, Oprah seem to feature almost every bit of pseudoscience going on her show. Whether it’s her favourite doctor, Mehmet Oz, talking about reiki, actress Suzanne Somers extolling injecting estrogen directly into her vagina, the not-necessarily-harmless silliness of The Secret, or even a Brazilian faith healer. And tens of millions of viewers are left with the impression that this stuff will make them feel better. (Oprah’s penchant for promoting pseudoscience even prompted a Newsweek cover story last year).
In 2007, Oprah repeatedly had actress Jenny McCarthy on the show talking about her belief that vaccinations had made her young son autistic and Oprah’s website also contains incoherent anti-vaccination information
http://www.newsweek.com/2009/05/29/l...life-ever.html
At some point, it would seem, people will stop looking to Oprah for this kind of guidance. This will never happen. Oprah's audience admires her as much for her failings as her successes. In real life, she has almost nothing in common with most of her viewers. She is an unapproachable billionaire with a private jet and homes around the country who hangs out with movie stars. She is not married and has no children. But television Oprah is a different person. She somehow manages to make herself believable as a down-to-earth everywoman.