By leaving out crucial facts and twisting others, Kate Kelland has authored another article that serves Monsanto well but victimizes innocent members of the public
EXCERPT: The only encouraging point to be taken from Kelland’s story is that this time she admitted Monsanto provided her with the information.
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Reuters reporter again promotes false narrative about IARC and glyphosate cancer concerns
Stacy Malkan
US Right to Know, 20 Pct 2017
https://usrtk.org/our-investigations/acc_loves_katekelland/
[links to sources at the URL above]
Continuing her record of industry-biased reporting about the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Reuters reporter Kate Kelland attacked the science panel again yesterday with a story that the panel edited a draft scientific document before issuing the final version of its assessment on glyphosate that found glyphosate a probable human carcinogen.
The American Chemistry Council, the chemical industry trade group, immediately issued a press release praising Kelland’s story, claiming her story “undermines IARC’s conclusions about glyphosate” and urging policy makers to “take action against IARC over deliberate manipulation of data”.
Kelland’s story quoted a Monsanto executive claiming that “IARC members manipulated and distorted scientific data” but failed to mention the significant amount of evidence that has emerged from Monsanto’s own documents through court-ordered discovery that demonstrate the many ways the company has worked to manipulate and distort data on glyphosate over decades.
The story also failed to mention that most of the research IARC discounted was Monsanto-financed work that did not have sufficient raw data to meet IARC’s standards. And though Kelland cites a 1983 mouse study and a rat study in which IARC failed to agree with the original investigators, she failed to disclose that these were studies financed by Monsanto and the investigators IARC failed to agree with were paid by Monsanto. She also failed to mention the critical information that in the 1983 mouse study, even the EPA toxicology branch did not agree with Monsanto’s investigators because the evidence of carcinogenicity was so strong, according to EPA documents. They said in numerous memos that Monsanto’s argument was unacceptable and suspect, and they determined glyphosate to be a possible carcinogen.
By leaving out these crucial facts, and by twisting others almost inside out, Kelland has authored another article that serves Monsanto quite well, but victimized innocent members of the public and policy makers who rely on trusted news outlets for accurate information. The only encouraging point to be taken from Kelland’s story is that this time she admitted Monsanto provided her with the information.
As we have previously reported, Kelland’s earlier reporting on IARC has been deeply problematic; her stories have contained errors that Reuters refused to correct, made blatantly misleading claims about documents that were not provided to the public, and relied on industry-connected sources who were presented as independent sources. The story below by Stacy Malkan, originally published in Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting, documents these examples.
See also these related stories and documents:
* This Monsanto document describes the company’s public relations plan to “orchestrate outcry with IARC decision” in anticipation of the agency’s cancer rating on glyphosate. The PR plan names Sense About Science, a London based lobbying group, as a “Tier 2” ally and suggests the group could lead media outreach efforts against IARC. Sense About Science is the sister group of Science Media Center, a corporate-funded PR firm in London with close ties to Kelland (as documented in the story below).
* “Reuters’ Kate Kelland IARC Story Promotes False Narrative,” by Carey Gillam, 6/28/2017
* “Monsanto Spin Doctors Target Cancer Scientist in Flawed Reuters Story,” by Carey Gillam, 6/19/2017.
See also at the same URL as the story above:
“Reuters vs. UN cancer agency: Are corporate ties influencing science coverage?”