The Enemies of DemocracySource: Rachel's Environment & Health News, #725, May 24, 2001 Editings in bold, italics and sub-headings added by PSRAST (Excerpt)
The enemies of democracy are flexing their musclesNow a new book, TRUST US, WE'RE EXPERTS! by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber, provides a chilling, documented history of ongoing corporate efforts to use propaganda and "public relations" to distort science, manipulate public opinion, discredit democracy...[2] ... Planted "spin" storiesPR experts "spin" stories for the media on the assumption that most reporters are too overworked (or too lazy) to search out the truth for themselves. But Rampton and Stauber exhaustively document that "spin" goes much farther than merely providing a "news hook," a viewpoint, or a few facts. Modern corporate propaganda involves purchasing scientific opinions and planting them in scientific journals (without, of course, mentioning the money connection to the corporate benefactor). Tobacco companies invented this technique, but now others are using it freely. For example, in the early 1990s, tobacco companies paid $156,000 to a handful of scientists to sign their names to letters written by tobacco company lawyers. The letters were published in the JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, the LANCET, the JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE, and the WALL STREET JOURNAL, and were then cited by the tobacco companies as if they had been written by independent scientists. "It's a systematic effort to pollute the scientific literature," says professor of medicine Stanton Glantz (University of California, San Francisco), a longtime critic of Big Tobacco. (pg. 199) In 1999 drug maker Wyeth Laboratories commissioned ghost writers to manufacture ten medical articles promoting a combination of Wyeth drugs called fen-fen, as a treatment for obesity. Two of the articles actually got published in peer-reviewed journals. After fen-fen was pulled from the market for permanently damaging peoples' heart valves, lawyers for injured victims discovered that Wyeth had edited the articles to play down and occasionally delete descriptions of side effects caused by fen-fen. Prominent scientists put their names on these articles in return for fees as small as $1000 to $1500 -- and journal editors published the articles as if they represented independent scientific inquiry. Wyeth could then cite these "independent" studies to convince doctors to prescribe fen-fen. In 1996, Sheldon Krimsky of Tufts University examined 789 articles published by 1105 researchers in 14 leading life science and biomedical journals. In 34% of the articles, at least one of the chief authors had an identifiable financial interest connected to the research. None of these financial interests was disclosed in the journals. Krimsky said the 34% figure was probably an underestimate because he couldn't check stock ownership or corporate consulting fees paid to researchers. Secrecy invites deception and destroys democratic accountabilityScience, like democracy, depends crucially upon the free flow of information. When secrecy is imposed, errors go undetected and fallacies proliferate -- only to be discovered years later, if at all.[4] For example, secrecy has allowed the U.S. military to create a "pattern of exaggeration and deception" in its reports to Congress, just as secrecy allowed the military to waste more than $100 billion (!) in failed attempts to create a workable "star wars" missile defense system.[5] In 1993, a front-page story in the NEW YORK TIMES began, "Officials of the 'Star Wars' project rigged a crucial 1984 test and faked other data in a program of deception that misled Congress..."[6] Secrecy invites deception and destroys democratic accountability. Rampton and Stauber point out that "Corporate funding creates a culture of secrecy that can be as chilling to free academic inquiry as funding from the military. Instead of government censorship, we hear the language of commerce: nondisclosure agreements, patent rights, intellectual property rights, intellectual capital." (pg. 214) Corporate funding taking over researchA key feature of the corporate anti-democracy strategy of the past 20 years is reduced government funding for needed research, thus inviting corporate funders to step in. This is what "tax cut" really means. Tax cuts are not primarily aimed at giving families another $300 to spend -- they are mainly intended to reduce the capacity of governments to fund needed public services, such as medical research. As a result, corporations are asked to provide the funds and thus they gain an opportunity to influence the national research agenda and the results. In 1994 and 1995 researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital surveyed more than 3000 academic scientists and found that 64% of them had financial ties to corporations. They reported in the JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (JAMA), that 20% of the 3000 researchers admitted that they had delayed publication of research results for more than 6 months, to obtain patents and to "slow the dissemination of undesired results." "Sometimes if you accept a grant from a company, you have to include a proviso that you won't distribute anything except with its OK. It has a negative impact on science," says Nobel-prize-winning biochemist Paul Berg. (pg. 215) In 1999 Drummond Rennie, editor of JAMA, said private funding of medical research was causing "a race to the ethical bottom.... The behavior of universities and scientists is sad, shocking, and frightening," Rennie said. "They are seduced by industry funding, and frightened that if they don't go along with these gag orders, the money will go to less rigorous institutions," he said. (pg. 217) Deception of courts, legislatures, media, educators and the publicIn this rich, deep book, Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber have painstakingly documented the specific techniques that PR experts and their corporate masters employ to deceive the courts, the legislatures, the media, educators, and the public. The next time someone accuses you of "chemophobia" or of relying on "junk science" you'll know you're dealing with corporate manipulators who are being guided by PR skanks... [End of article], for references see the end of this page Comment by PSRASTIn addition to PR manipulation through media, corporations use increasing amounts of money for corrupting governments in order to promote their issues, see "Exporting Corruption. Privatisation, Multinationals and Bribery".A well researched book that reveals the methods of multinational corporations "When corporations rule the world" by David C. Korten. Co-published 1995 by Kumarian Press Inc and Berett Koestler Publishers Inc. For brief reviews, see http://www.pcdf.org/corprule/corporat.htm. For comprehensive excerpts, see http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Korten/WhenCorpsRuleWorld_Korten.html. David Korten is a former Professor at the School of Bussiness at Harvard. Later he worked for USAID in Asia.
The prime responsibility of the managements of these corporations is to maximise profitability. Therefore it is logical that any intiative should be suppressed that may lead to regulations and other limitiations causing increased expenses, like the activity of environmental organizations, as they tend to result in decreased profits. An example is the above mentioned attempts of the corporation sponsored organization "Frontiers of Freedom" to crush "Rainforest Action Network", which may have serious implications for many other environmental groups as well. The same goes for regulations that would require careful safety assessment of GE foods. Such assessments would cost billions of dollars for each new GE food variety. This explains why the corporations have exerted very strong pressure on the elimination of regulations that require careful safety assessment although it is definitely necessary to prevent the release of GE foods containing unexpected harmful substances, see "Inadequate safety assessment of GE foods". Related articlePR strategies used to manipulate opinions about GE foodsReferences
[1] Anne Marie Chaker, "Conservatives Seek IRS Inquiry On
[2] Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber, TRUST US, WE'RE EXPERTS HOW
[3] William Serrin, "300 Dead Each Day: The Wages of Work," THE
[4] Tim Weiner, "Military Accused of Lies Over Arms," NEW YORK
[5] William J. Broad, "After Many Misses, Pentagon Still Pursues
[6] Tim Weiner, "Lies and Rigged 'Star Wars' Test Fooled the
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