Bizarre Advice To Editors from NZ Science Media Centre

Bizarre Advice To Editors from NZ Science Media Centre

The publicly-funded NZ Science Media Centre is offering bizarre suggestions to news editors and journalists about how to report the accidental spread of GE canola in Australia and the US.

The SMC advises that science reporters should talk about GE canola "brightening the roadsides with yellow during their flowering," and to report that the latest research paper "is unremarkable and not at all surprising."

The SMC media advice comes at the same time as publication of research confirming the spread of GE crops and herbicide-resistance into the US environment.

Rather than advising the media of scientific uncertainty and debate about the implications of GE crops spreading, the SMC advises media to say that contamination had happened before and was just being "repeated now in the US state of North Dakota."

In Australia contamination from GE canola has ended up with farmers in court, and Western Australian growers are being asked to stop growing GM Canola by grain exporters.

New Zealand farmers are also alarmed at the risk to exports and local cropping from GE maize and GE wheat.There is concern that Monsanto may attempt to enforce the introduction of GE seeds through trade agreements like the TPPA.

The spin being pushed by the New Zealand Science Media Centre cannot be taken seriously when it deliberately ignores the scientific debate, and fails to consider the economic implications of GE contamination for New Zealand's clean-green image and global exports.

The SMC does not mention that increased use of toxic chemicals in the environment is being directly blamed on growing herbicide resistance in weeds and in GM crops. By ignoring this and instead advising journalists with PR spin that "herbicide resistance in canola is of no consequence if the canola is not sprayed," the SMC is dismally failing to provide the media with a credible perspective on scientific issues having claimed until now that this was its purpose and mission.

ENDS

REFERENCES

[http://www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz/2011/10/07/wild-gm-canola-in-united-states/]

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