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 the Monsanto PR Machine
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
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
As a president and board chair of AAAS from 2011-2013, Dr. Fedoroff advanced agrichemical industry policy objectives. She now works for a lobbying firm. Documents obtained by U.S. Right to Know show how public relations and lobbying efforts are coordinated behind the scenes among the agrichemical industry, front groups and academics who appear independent. Nina … Nina Fedoroff: Mobilizing the authority of American science to back Monsanto
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
You’ve heard the mantra over and over – there are no safety concerns associated with genetically engineered crops. That refrain, music to agrichemical and biotech seed industry ears, has been sung repeatedly by U.S. lawmakers who have just passed a national law that allows companies to avoid stating on food packages if those products contain … Keeping Secrets From Consumers: Labeling Law a Win for Industry-Academic Collaborations
Following a Columbia Journalism Review article on whether science journalists should accept money from corporate interests, and whether there is adequate disclosure of sources’ corporate ties and conflicts of interest, U.S. Right to Know reviewed recent articles to assess how often journalists and columnists quote academic sources without stating that they are funded by the … Journalists Failed to Disclose Sources’ Funding from Monsanto: A Short Report
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
I just don’t get it. Over the more than 20 years I have worked as a business journalist, I’ve always been motivated by a simple premise: Knowledge is power, and that power belongs with the public. The spread of information that people can use to make decisions – what to buy, what to eat, where … Fearful Food Industry Jeopardizing Public’s Right to Information