[ShareTompkins] New: Fakethrough! GMOs and the Capitulation of Science Journalism

[A Wilson]

Fakethrough! GMOs and the Capitulation of Scientific Journalism

Published today in Independent Science News: “Fakethrough! GMOs and  
the Capitulation of Science Journalism“, by Jonathan Latham, PhD,  
Executive Director of The Bioscience Resource Project.

“The media is absolutely essential to the functioning of a democracy.  
It’s not our job to cozy up to power. We’re supposed to be the check  
and balance on government.” — Amy Goodman

Goodman, like many others, believes the role of a democratic press is  
that of public interest watchdog.

For the the science media it appears to be the role not taken. This  
failure is perhaps most evident in its coverage of the Ag-Biotech  
industry, where the gap between what the data supports and the press  
reports appears ever-widening. Especially telling are the articles  
describing ‘humanitarian’ GMO breakthroughs in which biotech crops are  
proposed, in the words of Canada’s National Post, to pull “the African  
continent out of decades of economic and social despair”.

These articles appear in all of the science media and beyond,  
including the New York Times, Time magazine, the Toronto Globe and  
Mail, the Guardian, the Economist, Slate, New Scientist, Forbes and  
hundreds of other news outlets. The Ag-Biotech industry has taken full  
advantage of a compliant media to put forth an image of itself as  
sophisticated, caring, and essential to the world’s survival. The  
mirror image, in fact, of that supported by both science and history.

This continuous flow of “good news for the world” stories originates  
from a very limited number of GMO biotech projects: edible vaccines,  
biofortified cassava, golden rice, and a virus resistant sweet potato.  
Based on preliminary research, unpublished findings, or already failed  
projects, what these stories primarily showcase is the failure of the  
mainstream science press to fulfill the requirements of rigorous and  
skeptical journalism. For the full story on this failure of the  
science press and its implications, read “Fakethrough! GMOs and the  
Capitulation of Science Journalism“, by Jonathan Latham, PhD.

URL: http://www.independentsciencenews.org/science-media/fakethrough-gmos-and-the-capitulation-of-science-journalism/

**************

“Well, there’s a question as to what sort of information is important  
in the world, what sort of information can achieve reform. And there’s  
a lot of information. So information that organizations are spending  
economic effort into concealing, that’s a really good signal that when  
the information gets out, there’s a hope of it doing some good.” —  
Julian AssangeAllison



Allison Wilson, PhD
Science Director
The Bioscience Resource Project

phone: 1 (607) 319 0279
a.wilson at bioscienceresource.org
www.independentsciencenews.org
and
www.bioscienceresource.org

"Good with Science"

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