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The Enter Stage Right Link of the Month Journalists make mistakes. I know, I am one. It's personally embarrassing when something factually incorrect gets through the editing process because ultimately it is our credibility that people take swipes at. ABC's John Stossel is learning that the hard way. Back on February 4, 2000, ABC's 20/20 aired Stossel's "How Good is Organic Food," a segment which contained one sentence which angered many people. "Our tests" on produce, Stossel said, "surprisingly found no pesticide residue on the conventional samples or the organic." The problem? No such tests were ever performed. The scientists which performed testing for E. coli and pesticide residues did it only on chicken and not produce. Those same scientists then told the producer of Stossel's segment -- not Stossel himself -- that they had done tests on both.
We won't get into the issue of whether organic foods are more safe then their regular counterparts, you can read Michael Fumento's Investor's Business Daily piece for that. That's not even what Stossel's being attacked for either. Fumento put it best in that same piece when he said:
Given the state of journalism today, a person like Stossel is desperately needed. That's why you should visit Save John Stossel and learn about the jihad that he has had to suffer since the report first aired and the players behind the campaign. After that, learn more about the issues as a whole and why you have nothing to fear from eating regular food. And sign the petition. We need to tell ABC that firing John Stossel would be a mistake. |
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If
making a mistake once was bad enough, on July 7, ABC re-aired the segment
with no statement admitting that tests were not carried out on produce.
That proved to be too much for groups like Environmental Working Group,
one which has had its own problems with the truth, who have called for
Stossel's resignation, a retraction of the program and other remedies.