NO EXPLANATION GIVEN FOR WHY ‘MASK’ PROJECT BROKE ‘RULES’
Update: Must Read Alaska has taken down the first video of this project because the doctor has been subjected to harassment. Well update readers when we can share more.
Bernadette Wilson of Anchorage was mystified when she woke up Tuesday morning to find that her GoFundMe.com page, to raise money for a mask-awareness project, had been shut down by the fundraising company.
And then she was in shock: All the funds she had raised to make three videos and get them on the air had been stripped out of her account and sent back to donors. The $4,800 in donations had been refunded to the dozens of donors backing the project.
Wilson had already produced two of the TV spots and reserved the advertising time, and GoFundMe would give her no explanation of why her page was shut down. When she sent a note to the help desk asking for the rationale, she received the vaguest of answers:
Wilson’s “Truth Unmasked” project, which is a temporary public information campaign and not an ongoing nonprofit or entity, was designed to get the word out from medical doctors in Anchorage willing to go on the record about the correct use of masks, because only one side of the medical debate was being highlighted in the political arena, where policy decisions are being made.
Some doctors have spoken to Must Read Alaska privately about their concerns about the mask mandates, but they’ve been reluctant to speak up. After all, they work in a sector that is highly regulated and regulation agencies can cause them economic harm.
Wilson found three who would go on camera to discuss the problem with incorrect usage of masks in the current pandemic environment.
On Monday, a mask mandate was put into effect by Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz for all people in the municipality who are in spaces where they are “sharing the air” with others. Democrats are pressuring Gov. Mike Dunleavy to enact a statewide mask mandate.
Wilson’s first spot was published yesterday on YouTube and has had more than 9,000 views. It features neurosurgeon Dr. Paulson of Anchorage. It’s been since taken down since Dr. Paulson has been harassed after it aired.
Wilson, who owns Denali Disposal, has ads under production with other doctors, and has time booked on radio.
Wilson said she is busy launching another fundraising website to try to restore the funds to the project, since she has committed the $4,800 that it gained in the few days the fundraising campaign was live.
