I went to a four-day journalism program on food and agriculture put on by the National Press Foundation (NPF), and the centerpiece of our Missouri adventure — both a reason many of us were there, and why this fellowship sparked some controversy — was the visit to Monsanto.
The day started with a speech by chief technology officer Robb Fraley, the de facto general in Monsanto’s newfound charm offensive. He introduced one of Monsanto’s biggest talking points of the day — the need to feed nine billion people by 2050 (with the corollary that GMOs are vital to accomplish this). This was a tough crowd. Later, one seasoned ag reporter called it the “standard Fraley talking points,” only modified to stump for a newly unpopular merger.
The fellows certainly took every opportunity to ruffle feathers. There were scads of tough questions, about Monsanto’s staff lacking diversity, about its role in creating superweeds, about established links between Roundup and cancer. Most of these questions were evaded with varying levels of dexterity; one exception was when Alan Bjerga of Bloomberg repeatedly hammered Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant (yes, Hugh Grant) about global patents. We all noticed when the outwardly genial Grant — who speaks with a Scottish lilt — momentarily transformed into a terrifying bulldog.
My favorite moments were the glimpses of humanity behind the spin — when Monsanto employees seemed awkward, insecure, normal. Like how a Monsanto scientist, at the cocktail mingler, telling us how Janet Jackson once sat on his friend’s couch — he fervently seemed to want approval. (It was heartbreaking; I wanted to hug the man.) Truth is, even Grant’s flash of anger was unmistakably human.
And maybe that was Monsanto’s trickiest ruse of all. I feel somewhat confident that my group wasn’t snowed by the relentless corporate messaging. But when we walked away, this big blank mean machine had sprouted a bunch of human faces. Sure, us journalists will continue to do our jobs, holding Monsanto accountable for any and all questionable practices. But what if, subconsciously, our approach will be softer now — even a tiny bit? Does that mean Monsanto won?
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: I Went to Monsanto’s Controversial Journalism Bootcamp
