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.
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
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
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
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
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
The Science Media Centre (SMC) is a nonprofit public relations agency partially funded by corporations and industry groups whose products the group often defends. Current and past funders include BASF, Bayer, DuPont, Monsanto, Coca-Cola, Nestle, and food, chemical and nuclear industry trade organizations, as well as media groups, government agencies, foundations and universities. The SMC … Science Media Centre promotes corporate views of science
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
Updates: Documents released in 2019 revealed Monsanto’s cozy connection to a Reuters reporter who wrote a series of articles critical of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). IARC issued a statement on Oct. 24, 2017 rejecting the “false claims” in a Reuters article claiming the cancer agency ‘edited out’ findings in its glyphosate … Reuters report that IARC ‘edited out’ findings is a false narrative
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
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
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
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
This article by Stacy Malkan original appeared in The Ecologist The founders of Cornell University, Andrew D. White and Ezra Cornell, dreamed of creating a great university that took a radical approach to learning. Their revolutionary spirit, and the promise to pursue knowledge for the greater good, is said to be at the heart of … Why is Cornell University Hosting a GMO Propaganda Campaign?
Trevor Butterworth and his colleagues at Sense About Science/STATS have written for prominent news outlets and been quoted as independent experts on science and media. This fact sheet provides evidence that these groups and writers have long histories of using tobacco tactics to manufacture doubt about science and push for deregulation of products important to … Trevor Butterworth, Sense About Science and STATS Spin Science for Industry
UPDATE January 2019: Documents filed in court show that Monsanto provided Kate Kelland with the documents for her June 2017 story about Aaron Blair and gave her a slide deck of talking points the company wanted covered. For more details, see Carey Gillam’s Roundup Trial Tracker post. The following analysis was prepared by Carey Gillam … Reuters’ Kate Kelland promoted false narrative about IARC and Aaron Blair
