If you’ve ever wondered about whether or not the FDA manipulates the media, they do. Read on. Nothing should surprise us anymore.
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Our press corps is continually manipulated thanks to something that’s been around for decades: the embargo. An embargo is a “back-room deal between journalists and the people they cover—their sources. A source grants the journalist access on condition that he or she cannot publish before an agreed-on date and time.” 1 (And it’s not just the FDA, loads of other scientific and government agencies use embargos to control the behavior of the scientific press, as well.)
“Like a regular embargo, a close-hold embargo allows early access to information provided that attendees not publish before a set date and time.”2
Realistically, when embargoes first began in the 1920s, they were embraced by science reporters because it took the pressure off; if everyone agrees to publish simultaneously it gives you more time to be thorough without fear of “being scooped.”3
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However, rather quickly scientific institutions realized that embargoes could be used to manipulate the timing and nature of press coverage. And now “the FDA, like other sources of scientific information, are gaining control of journalists who are supposed to keep an eye on those institutions. The watchdogs are being turned into lapdogs.”4
It’s become a serious problem.
Although it’s hard to tell when a group is using a close-hold embargo because, by definition, it’s a secret, Scientific American did some digging and via Freedom of Information Act requests have put together a story you want to read.
Click here to read just how bad it’s gotten.
It is true that these government agencies are to blame but the journalists themselves have taught these agencies how to treat them. They have allowed this to go on for far too long. It’s time to end embargos and usher in a real time of openness and transparency. For all our sakes.
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