One of our missions at ACSH is to change the media narrative about science and health. Too often, the media publishes "click bait" with the intention of scaring people or promoting a new food fad. That does a disservice to the public.
We aim to rectify this by getting quoted in as many media outlets as possible. Wherever you go, there we are. And here's where we appeared recently:
(1) Forbes cited our article on how organic pesticides may be bad for wine production. Just because something is "natural" doesn't mean it's better. Organic winemakers like to use copper sulfate as a pesticide, but the chemical appears to be damaging the soil. The problem has gotten bad enough that some winemakers are now rejecting organic methods. We hate to say, "We told you so," but...
(2) An article by Dr. Charles Dinerstein was promoted by the Kaiser Family Foundation. KFF is a nonprofit dedicated to healthcare policy, and they summarized Dr. Dinerstein's recent piece on the cost of non-communicable disease.
(3) Dr. Alex Berezow was quoted in an article by the Daily Caller. A new California bill proposes to ban paper receipts. One of the reasons given to justify the law is the presence of trace amounts of bisphenol A (BPA), a supposed endocrine disruptor. However, BPA isn't dangerous at the amounts to which we are routinely exposed, which is why Dr. Berezow told the reporter, "Eliminating paper receipts is fine — nobody really wants them, anyway... But we shouldn't fabricate reasons to support this policy."
(4) Dr. Josh Bloom was cited by the Pain News Network. Oregon Senator Ron Wyden has been smearing the scientists who are on a national opioid task force, the goal of which is to determine if our policy toward opioids has been succeeding or failing. (Hint: It's been failing miserably.) Because he's a politician, he assumes that scientists are also like politicians, bought and paid for by donors (in this case, Big Pharma). But his allegations are untrue. And, as it turns out, Sen. Wyden might be the one with the financial conflict-of-interest.
(5) Dr. Alex Berezow was interviewed by the morning show on 790 KABC Los Angeles. People are afraid of the food in their kitchen. (ACSH's founder, Dr. Elizabeth Whelan, wrote a wonderful book about this called Panic in the Pantry.) This time, people are afraid of cow's milk, so Dr. Berezow allayed their concerns.
(6) Dr. Berezow's article on homicide and suicide statistics was cited by Rod Dreher in the American Conservative. To fully understand the nature of violence in our society, one must understand demographics. Here is what the data say: Among whites, suicides outnumber murders 6 to 1; among blacks, murders outnumber suicides 3.5 to 1. Also, the homicide rate among blacks is nearly quadruple the national average.
(7) The Washington Examiner linked to Dr. Berezow's work on Russia's anti-Western propaganda. Not only does Russia interfere in elections, it interferes in our science. Vladimir Putin does not want GMOs or fracking-derived natural gas to be successful because the American firms that produce them are an economic threat to his country. So, using propaganda outlets like RT, the Kremlin spreads false information about the alleged dangers of various technologies. And, RT has found willing dupes, like the conspiracy website U.S. Right to Know, to help spread anti-GMO disinformation for them.
(8) Dr. Alex Berezow continued his twice-weekly radio segment, "Real Science with Dr. B," on Seattle's Kirby Wilbur Show. In his most recent appearance, he took live calls from listeners who wanted to know about vaping, cannabidiol for animals, and the HPV vaccine.
