Buckraking on the Food Beat: When Is It a Conflict of Interest?, by Stacky Malkan

http://fair.org/home/buckraking-on-the-food-beat-when-is-it-a-conflict-of-interest/

Tamar Haspel writes a food column for the Washington Post–but her other sources of income are raising questions. 

Commentary from a US colleague:

Another excellent story from US RTK on the Washington Post's Tamar Haspel taking money from biotech interests, but failing to reveal how much, all the while repeating industry talking points in her columns. Hassle maintains she'll only attend/arrange meetings if there are a range of views (not all pro-industry) on GE represented.  However, the fact that she was a "faculty member" at a Biotechnology Literacy Project Conference, that was organized by Jon Entine and Cami Ryan (who now works for Monsanto) and funded by Genetic Literacy Project and Academic Reviews (both ag chem front groups) and Univ. of Florida, which has received tens of millions of dollars from biotech and big food companies.

A Short Report on Journalists Mentioned in our FOIA Requests →

Posted on September 28, 2015

by Gary Ruskin

On September 23rd, Washington Post food columnist Tamar Haspeladmitted to receiving “plenty” of money from pro-agrichemical industry sources.

Following her admission, I thought it might be useful to report on journalists – including Haspel — mentioned in the documents we have received from state public records requests.

U.S. Right to Know is conducting an investigation of the food and agrichemical industries, their PR firms and front groups, and the professors who speak for them.

So far, three reporters come up in interesting ways: Amy Harmon, Keith Kloor and Tamar Haspel.

These reporters appear in the context of Jon Entine, who is perhaps the leading PR operative working to promote the views of the agrichemical industry, and its pesticides and GMOs. Entine is founder andexecutive director of the Genetic Literacy Project, which, along with the PR firm Ketchum’s GMO Answers, are the agrichemical industry’s two most visible front groups. Entine is also founder and president of the PR firm ESG MediaMetrics, whoseclients have included the agrichemical giant Monsanto.