Trust Us, We're Experts! How Industry Manipulates Science and Gambles with Your Future

Abstract

Trust Us, We're Experts! How Industry Manipulates Science and Gambles with Your Future. Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, 2001. 360 pp. $24.95 hbk. $14.95 pbk. WARNING: THIS BOOK MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH. Well, okay. That may be a little over the top, but not by much. Journalism and mass communication teachers may become clinically depressed after devouring this meticulous, thoroughly researched account of the ways in which journalists-many of whom we teach-are duped by corporations that threaten public health and welfare. To make matters worse, many public relations practitioners-whom we also teach-participate in or invent schemes to ensure that dangerous corporate actions are not recognized, regulated, or curtailed. The depression is likely to deepen as teachers discover how devious-and successful-the corporate disinformation campaigns really are. This well-written, well-organized book is a project of the nonprofit Center for Media and Democracy, which is dedicated to investigative reporting on the hidden PR manipulations of government and industry. Those of us who want the media to perform well will not find much comfort in this book. Investigative journalists Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber acknowledge that there are also enterprising, committed journalists who take seriously their responsibility to serve as the public's eyes and ears, but little of that committed journalism is on display here. Some of the case studies cause one to wonder whether democracy really works. The Global Climate Coalition, for example, was formed in 1989 solely to help corporations and trade associations wage war against those who would reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The energy, transportation, and chemical companies that created the Coalition could lose billions if governments ever got serious about regulating emissions. Few reputable scientists denied the reality of global warming, so the Coalition's goal was simply to stop people from mobilizing to do anything about the problem, to create sufficient doubt in their minds about the seriousness of global warming that they will remain locked in debate and indecision. The Coalition and similar groups have enjoyed remarkable success in deferring emission regulation. It is disheartening to read how journalists are used to protect narrow self-interests, and how public relations practitioners are part of the plot. The success of the hugely expensive attacks against junk also is disconcerting. Junk science, in the view of many in industry and government, is any science that threatens profits or the status quo. …