Academics Review Archives

Jay Byrne: Meet the man behind USAID-funded attacks on pesticide critics

Stacy Malkan | February 3, 2025

Monsanto’s former Director of Corporate Communications Jay Byrne, president of the public relations firm v-Fluence, is a key player in the covert propaganda and lobbying campaigns of the world’s largest agrichemical companies. Emails obtained by U.S. Right to Know, posted in the UCSF Chemical Industry Documents Archive, reveal a range of deceptive tactics Byrne and … Jay Byrne: Meet the man behind USAID-funded attacks on pesticide critics

Keith Kloor: How a science journalist worked behind the scenes with industry allies

Stacy Malkan | November 1, 2018

Keith Kloor is a freelance journalist and an adjunct journalism faculty member at New York University who has written for Nature, Science Insider, Slateand dozens of articles for Discover Magazinepromoting genetically engineered foods and attacking critics of the pesticide industry, while also assisting industry public relations efforts behind the scenes. Emails obtained by U.S. Right … Keith Kloor: How a science journalist worked behind the scenes with industry allies

Julie Kelly cooks up propaganda for the pesticide industry

Stacy Malkan | February 13, 2017

Julie Kelly is a food writer and cooking instructor who emerged in 2015 as a fierce advocate for the agrichemical industry, with articles defending pesticides, arguing against GMO labeling and attacking the organic food industry. Her work has appeared in the National Review, The Hill, Huffington Post, the Wall Street Journal and Forbes. An award-winning … Julie Kelly cooks up propaganda for the pesticide industry

Climate Science Denial Network Funds Toxic Chemical Propaganda

Stacy Malkan | March 2, 2017

They promote GMOs and pesticides, defend toxic chemicals and junk food, and attack people who raise concerns about those products as “anti-science.” Yet Jon Entine, Trevor Butterworth and Henry Miller are funded by the same groups that finance climate-science denial. By Stacy Malkan British writer George Monbiot has a warning for those of us trying … Climate Science Denial Network Funds Toxic Chemical Propaganda

Val Giddings: Top Operative for the Agrichemical Industry

Stacy Malkan | November 9, 2018

Val Giddings, PhD, is a key player in agrichemical industry efforts to oppose transparency and safety regulations for genetically engineered foods and pesticides. Emails obtained by U.S. Right to Know and posted in the UCSF Chemical Industry Documents Library indicate that Dr. Giddings helped set up a corporate front group and played a key behind-the-scenes … Val Giddings: Top Operative for the Agrichemical Industry

How Tamar Haspel Misleads Readers of the Washington Post

Stacy Malkan | August 23, 2018

Tamar Haspel is a freelance journalist who has been writing monthly food columns for the Washington Post since October 2013. Her columns frequently promote and defend pesticide industry products, while she also receives payments to speak at industry-aligned events, and sometimes from industry groups. This practice of journalists receiving payments from industry groups, known as … How Tamar Haspel Misleads Readers of the Washington Post

Independent Women’s Forum: Koch-Funded Group Defends Pesticide, Oil, Tobacco Industries

Stacy Malkan | February 24, 2020

The Independent Women’s Forum is a nonprofit organization that partners with Monsanto, defends toxic chemicals in food and consumer products, and argues against laws that would curb the power of corporations. Funded largely by right-wing foundations that push climate science denial, IWF beganin 1991 as an effort to defend now Supreme Court Justice (and former … Independent Women’s Forum: Koch-Funded Group Defends Pesticide, Oil, Tobacco Industries

Nina Fedoroff: Mobilizing the authority of American science to back Monsanto

Stacy Malkan | June 18, 2019

Nina Fedoroff, PhD, is one of the most influential scientists advocating for the proliferation and deregulation of genetically engineered foods. As president and board chair of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) from 2011-2013, she used her position to advance policy objectives of the pesticide and biotechnology industries. In 2015, Dr. Fedoroff … Nina Fedoroff: Mobilizing the authority of American science to back Monsanto

Genetic Literacy Project: PR front for Monsanto, Bayer and the chemical industry

Stacy Malkan | July 14, 2022

Genetic Literacy Project and its founder Jon Entine partner with corporations to promote and defend GMOs and pesticides. Bayer paid the Genetic Literacy Project $100,000 in fiscal year 2020-2021.

Tracking the pesticide industry propaganda network

Stacy Malkan | March 5, 2023

Our series of fact sheets shines light on the pesticide industry’s hidden propaganda network: the front groups, academics, journalists and others the pesticide companies rely on for their PR and product-defense campaigns.

Secret Documents Expose Monsanto’s War on Cancer Scientists

Stacy Malkan | October 1, 2018

By Stacy Malkan (updated May 17, 2019) DeWayne Johnson, a 46-year-old father dying of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, was the first person to face Monsanto in trial in 2018 over allegations the company hid evidence about the cancer-causing dangers of its Roundup weedkiller. Juries have since returned with three unanimous verdicts finding that glyphosate-based Roundup herbicides were … Secret Documents Expose Monsanto’s War on Cancer Scientists

Monsanto’s fingerprints all over Newsweek’s hit on organic food

Stacy Malkan | January 23, 2018

Update: Newsweek’s bizarre response By Stacy Malkan “The campaign for organic food is a deceitful, expensive scam,” according to a Jan. 19 Newsweek article authored by Dr. Henry I. Miller of the Hoover Institution. If that name sounds familiar – Henry I. Miller – it may be because the New York Times recently revealed a … Monsanto’s fingerprints all over Newsweek’s hit on organic food

Monsanto fingerprints found all over attack on organic food

Stacy Malkan | July 1, 2016

By Stacy Malkan When a reputable-sounding nonprofit organization released a report attacking the organic food industry in April 2014, the group went to great lengths to tout its independence. The 30-page report by Academics Review, described as “a non-profit led by independent academic experts in agriculture and food sciences,” found that consumers were being duped into spending more … Monsanto fingerprints found all over attack on organic food

Academics Review: The making of a Monsanto front group to attack the organic industry

Stacy Malkan | May 31, 2018

Academics Review, a nonprofit organization launched in 2012, claimed to be an independent group, but documents obtained by U.S. Right to Know revealed it was a front group, set up with the help of Monsanto executives and public relations operatives, to attack the organic industry and critics of GMOs — while appearing to be independent. … Academics Review: The making of a Monsanto front group to attack the organic industry

Drew Kershen: agrichemical industry front group ringleader

Stacy Malkan | May 1, 2018

Drew Kershen, professor emeritus at the University of Oklahoma College of Law, is a close ally of the agrichemical industry. He argues for deregulation of genetically engineered plants and animals and against transparency. Kershen has played a key role in agrichemical industry-funded promotional efforts and front groups that lobby for industry interests. Kershen does not … Drew Kershen: agrichemical industry front group ringleader

CBI, GMO Answers, CropLife: pesticide industry PR salvos

Stacy Malkan | September 2, 2020

The Council for Biotechnology Information (CBI) was a public relations campaign launched in April 2000 by seven leading chemical/seed companies and their trade groups to persuade the public to accept genetically engineered foods. The initiative — created in response to public concerns about the health and environmental risks of genetically engineered foods — said its … CBI, GMO Answers, CropLife: pesticide industry PR salvos

Biofortified Aids Chemical Industry PR & Lobbying Efforts

Stacy Malkan | May 31, 2018

Biology Fortified Inc., known as “Biofortified,” is a nonprofit organization that works closely with the agrichemical industry and its collaborators on public relations and lobbying campaigns to defend genetically engineered foods and pesticides, and attack industry critics. Board members and bloggers are key agrichemical industry allies Current and former board members and blog authors listed … Biofortified Aids Chemical Industry PR & Lobbying Efforts

The misleading ways of Dr. Kevin Folta

Stacy Malkan | June 20, 2023

Kevin Folta, Ph.D., a professor in the Horticulture Sciences Department at University of Florida, has provided inaccurate information and engaged in misleading activities in his efforts to promote genetically engineered foods and pesticides. He is a senior contributing columnist to the Genetic Literacy Project, a chemical industry promotion group that receives funding from Bayer. He … The misleading ways of Dr. Kevin Folta

Monsanto relied on these ‘partners’ to attack top cancer scientists

Stacy Malkan | March 31, 2019

In a confidential public relations plan dated February 2015, Monsanto laid out is plans to discredit the World Health Organization’s cancer research unit, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). A month later, the international group of experts judged glyphosate — the key ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer — to be probably carcinogenic … Monsanto relied on these ‘partners’ to attack top cancer scientists

AgBioChatter: Where Corporations, Academics Plotted Strategy on GMOs, Pesticides

Stacy Malkan | May 31, 2018

AgBioChatter is a private email listserver used by the agrichemical industry and its allies to coordinate messaging and lobbying activities. List members include pro-industry academics, senior agrichemical industry staff and public relations operatives. This internal Monsanto document identifies “Academics (AgBioChatter)” as a Tier 2 “industry partner” in Monsanto’s public relations plan to discredit the World … AgBioChatter: Where Corporations, Academics Plotted Strategy on GMOs, Pesticides

Pamela Ronald’s Ties to Chemical Industry Front Groups

Stacy Malkan | December 27, 2018

Founded, led UC Davis group that elevated industry PR efforts Dr. Ronald was the founding director of the World Food Center’s Institute for Food and Agricultural Literacy (IFAL), a group launched in 2014 at UC Davis to train faculty and students to promote genetically engineered foods, crops and pesticides. The group does not fully disclose … Pamela Ronald’s Ties to Chemical Industry Front Groups

Newsweek’s Bizarre Standards for Opinion Writers

Stacy Malkan | January 31, 2018

March 2019 update: Newsweek gets ad money from Bayer; publishes op-eds favorable to Bayer By Stacy Malkan Facts don’t matter in commentaries printed by Newsweek as long as the writer “seems genuine.” That’s the troubling implication from an email exchange I had with Newsweek Opinion Editor Nicholas Wapshott after I raised concerns about a column … Newsweek’s Bizarre Standards for Opinion Writers

How Monsanto Manufactured ‘Outrage’ at IARC over Cancer Classification

Stacy Malkan | September 19, 2017

By Carey Gillam Three years ago this month Monsanto executives realized they had a big problem on their hands. It was September 2014 and the company’s top-selling chemical, the weed killer called glyphosate that is the foundation for Monsanto’s branded Roundup products, had been selected as one among a handful of pesticides to undergo scrutiny … How Monsanto Manufactured ‘Outrage’ at IARC over Cancer Classification

A Short Report on Journalists Mentioned in our FOIA Requests

Gary Ruskin | September 28, 2015

Also see: Buckraking on the Food Beat: When is it a conflict of interest? Washington Post Food Columnist Goes to Bat for Monsanto On September 23rd, Washington Post food columnist Tamar Haspel admitted to receiving “plenty” of money from pro-agrichemical industry sources. Following her admission, I thought it might be useful to report on journalists … A Short Report on Journalists Mentioned in our FOIA Requests

Following an Email Trail: How a Public University Professor Collaborated on a Corporate PR Campaign

Carey Gillam | January 29, 2016

By Carey Gillam Former University of Illinois food science professor Bruce Chassy is known for his academic gravitas. Now retired nearly four years, Chassy still writes and speaks often about food safety issues, identifying himself with the full weight of the decades of experience earned at the public university and as a researcher at the … Following an Email Trail: How a Public University Professor Collaborated on a Corporate PR Campaign

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