Media coverage of Stanford organic study was biased

Published: November 1, 2012

Category: Organic Farming and Food Benefits

US media ignored 2011 UK study showing nutritional benefits of organics

An article in the Columbia Journalism Review says that the press has shown a preference for covering research that rejects the benefits of organic food.

The article, “The good news about organics,” written by Curtis Brainard, says that the US media extensively covered a study by Stanford University showing that organic foods were not more nutritious than conventional foods, while ignoring a 2011 UK study showing that organic foods are more nutritious than conventional.

The article states, “The findings, by scientists at Newcastle University in England, appeared in April 2011 and barely made a ripple in the news media or in the public consciousness.

“But last month, after a team from Stanford University conducted a similar review of many of the same studies, they came to opposite conclusions — and set off a firestorm.”

The article goes on to say that the media has a penchant for “counterintuitive, gotcha-style conclusions. Organics are assumed to be healthier, so it’s catchy when someone says they’re not.”

(Source: Columbia Journalism Review)

© Copyright The Organic & Non-GMO Report, November 2012