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A provocative blog post about one of Europe’s hot-button scientific issues has sparked a war of words in the policy world, with media outlets accused of pandering to powerful NGOs.
The man at the center of the clash, David Zaruk, is an academic who blogs under the nom de guerre Risk Monger. His articles attacking environmental and scientific orthodoxies have earned a dedicated following — and upset plenty of policymakers, activists and journalists.
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It came to a head when Euractiv editors took down a Risk Monger post attacking the reporting of a science journalist at Le Monde.
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Zaruk has harshly criticized IARC’s classification of glyphosate as a probable carcinogen, arguing that its position is based on flawed science and influenced by environmentalists. In the Risk Monger post that triggered the clash with Euractiv, Zaruk was bluntly critical of a science journalist at Le Monde, Stéphane Foucart, who in Zaruk’s view had been far too sympathetic to IARC’s position.
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In [Euractiv publisher Frédéric Simon’s] view, Zaruk’s post about Foucart went way beyond a fair level of criticism and cast doubts on Foucart’s professional integrity that were probably defamatory.
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Zaruk said Euractiv and Le Monde had stifled a legitimate alternative voice because the views he expressed in Risk Monger weren’t politically correct. . . .
In Zaruk’s view, he was telling hard truths about the influence of NGOs and environmental activists on the pesticide debate. “I was essentially doing what a journalist should be doing,” he said.
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Euractiv strongly rejected any suggestion that Risk Monger had been targeted for his political views.
Read full, original post: ‘Censorship’ of Euractiv science blogger sparks free speech debate
