The Junkman, Fox News and the Union of Concerned Scientists

Retrovirus research does however have direct relevance to public health policy (the HIV virus is a retrovirus) which is explicitly mentioned in the UCS statement. Even the partial signatory list Milloy used mentions Harold Varmus, whose 1989 Nobel Prize was for his research on the involvement of retroviruses in the origin of many cancers (Nobel E-Museum, 2004). Cancer and carcinogen regulation are crucial parts of public health policy—a fact Milloy ought to know considering how much high priced time he has invested over the years in protecting tobacco companies from the science linking cigarette smoke to cancer! As for global warming, the statement was also signed by Mario Molina and F. Sherwood Rowland, whose work with atmospheric ozone chemistry (a known greenhouse gas and an important part of the radiative energy budget and temperature dynamics of the atmosphere) won them the Nobel Prize in 1995, to the extreme consternation of global warming and ozone depletion skeptics and ultra-conservative special interests (Nobel E-Museum, 2004). Both names are also mentioned on the same partial signatory list Milloy used—right in front of his unseeing eyes. Signatories also include Kevin Trenberth, head of the Climate Analysis Section at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, CO. Though not a Nobel Laureate, Dr. Trenberth is one of the world's leading experts in global warming. Not surprisingly, Milloy avoids any mention of him, and to the best of my knowledge, Dr. Trenberth has never once been consulted by Fox News either for any information or commentary on global warming science and policy, though other more thorough news agencies regularly seek his feedback. The statement also addresses endangered species issues, where the Bush Administration's record is particularly egregious. Relevant signatories here included National Medal of Science and Crawford Prize winning entomologist E. O. Wilson and National Medal of Science winning entomologist Thomas Eisner. Wilson is generally regarded as the father of modern conservation biology science, and Eisner's is personally responsible for almost everything that is known today about entire classes of some insects, including many that are crucial to global biodiversity. If anyone alive today qualifies as an expert on endangered species and biodiversity issues, it is these two. Milloy, of course, carefully avoids any mention of this.

All this information is easily accessible via the internet and as mentioned, the full list of signatories is available at the UCS web site along with the report. Even a few moments worth of proper research would have turned it up. Milloy obviously did not bother, and neither did Fox News. Scholarship this sloppy would be inexcusable in a high school term paper, much less in the reporting of a large news agency and the "experts" they consult for their information. Yet this sort of unprofessionalism is commonplace with Milloy. Given Fox News' own track record for carelessness, it is no wonder that they depend on someone like him for the bulk of their science based and environmental commentary. According to Nielson, Fox News is now America's most watched cable news channel. Though they have fewer viewers than CNN, Fox has more total viewer-hours watched because their audience typically tunes in for longer periods (FAIR, 2004). In large part, this is because they share Fox's extreme conservative ideology and are drawn to the personality driven opinion programming which is their hallmark. I have many friends and family members who are regular Fox News viewers, and it is commonplace for me, during visits to find Fox News running continuously in the background for hours at a time - even during meals. In virtually every case, these people have told me that they watch Fox News because they are sick of the "liberal media". Not once has anyone indicated to me that they prefer Fox because they had independently investigated their reporting and/or research and found it to be more thorough and accurate than that of their competitors. It is revealing, and frightening, to think that a news agency this large can be at once so careless with facts, and yet so popular. With so many Americans depending almost exclusively on sources like Milloy and Fox News for their "information", it is little wonder that the United States can so easily elect presidents that are illiterate in science and public health issues.

More on Steven Milloy can be found at Jim Norton's Correcting Myths from Steven Milloy page and the Wikipedia article about him.

Footnotes

1. One can gather the extent of Milloy's viciousness by considering that in October 1999 when Dr. David Rall, founder of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and a widely renowned public health expert, was killed in a tragic car accident, Milloy actually rejoiced over his death publicly. At his Junk Science web site he posted an "Obituary of the Day" in which he wrote, "Scratch one junk scientist... ", and then proceeded to elaborate on how much better the world was with Rall dead. His comments drew sharp criticism from the scientific and environmental communities, and the Environmental Working Group sent a letter of protest to the Cato Institute (where Milloy was, and still is, currently employed). Then Cato president Edward Crane, who was equally shocked, disavowed the institute from Milloy's comments referring to them as "an inexcusable lapse in judgment and civility." A few days later after the Washington Post carried a story about the incident (October 12, 1999), a thoroughly unrepentent Milloy responded saying, "he was a bad guy when he was alive... Death did not improve his track record - no matter how many letters the Environmental Working Group sends to the Cato Institute." Grist magazine also ran an article about the incident titled Death Don't Have No Mercy (Grist, October 18, 1999). Rall, who by all accounts of colleagues and those who knew him was a gracious man and a consumate professional, left behind a wife, two children, and two grandchildren. To date, Milloy has vehemently refused to apologize to them or to the scientific community for his remarks.

References

Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR). April, 2004. The Ratings Mirage. Why Fox has higher ratings - when CNN has more viewers. Available online at www.fair.org/extra/0404/fox-ratings.html.

Fox News. Feb. 27, 2004. Enviros commence election-year attack. Available online at www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,112661,00.html.

Grist Magazine. Oct. 18, 1999. Death don't have no mercy. Available online at www.gristmagazine.com/muck/muck101899.asp.

Nobel E-Museum. 2004. Available online at www.nobel.se.