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.
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
The Alliance for Science is a public relations campaign that trains spokespeople and creates networks of influence, particularly in African countries, to persuade the public and policymakers to accept GMOs and pesticides. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched the effort in 2014 with a $5.6 million grant and has since donated $22 million to … Gates-funded ‘Alliance for Science’ accused of peddling misinformation
Mark Lynas is a former journalist turned public relations advocate for genetically engineered foods and pesticides. He makes inaccurate claims about those products from his perch at the Gates Foundation-funded Cornell Alliance for Science (which has dropped “Cornell” from its name). The Alliance for Science is a PR campaign that trains spokespeople and creates networks … Mark Lynas’ inaccurate, deceptive promotions for GMOs and pesticides
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 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
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
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
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
Kavin Senapathy emerged as a writer in 2015 with articles promoting GMOs, defending pesticides and attacking critics of the agrichemical industry, many of them published in Forbes. She does not disclose her funding sources. In 2017, Forbes deleted seven articles Senapathy co-authored with Henry I. Miller, a former Hoover Institution fellow, following revelations in the … Why Forbes deleted Kavin Senapathy’s articles
