August 2, 2000
		20/20's Stossel Exposed As a Fraud in Anti-Organic Story When ABC News correspondent John Stossel presented a report in February 2000 on the program 20/20 that attacked the organic Breaking news! Stossel has been reprimanded by his bosses at ABC News, and he is ordered to give an on-air apology on 20/20 Friday, Aug. 12, and his producer, David Fitzpatrick, was punished with a 30 day unpaid suspension for his part in promoting the lies. Our bet is that Stossel's apology will be timid, and Stossel will attempt to place all the blame on some unidentified "staffer". Keep him honest. Barrage 20/20 with messages berating Stossel to own up to his lies. And if he tries to pass the buck on the air, we all need to really let him have it. foods industry with blatant favoritism and zero journalistic integrity, we sat at home wih our mouths agape, flabbergasted at what a sham this alleged investigation actually was. Employing blatantly manipulative techniques such as editing responses to fit his agenda and using "expert" statements from unidentified biotech apologists such as the publicly outted industry flack Dennis Avery, Stossel asserted among other things that research commissioned by ABC News found that conventionally grown produce had no more pesticide residue than organic produce. Chemical-free production being a cornerstone of the organic industry, it was concluded by Stossel and his "research" that organic produce really was just a more expensive version of the conventionally grown kind, taking in unsuspecting consumers left and right. Stossel is often accused by media watch groups and activists of manipulating or falsifying data for many of his 20/20 reports. Well, it has just been uncovered by the Environmental Working Group that Stossel's researchers, Dr. Michael Doyle of the University of Georgia and Dr. Lester Crawford of Georgetown University's Center for Food and Nutrition Policy, never even tested produce for pesticide residue. In fact, when they uncovered findings that were inconsistent with Stossel's stinging indictment of the organic industry, he simply chose not to report that information. ABC executives are now looking into whether Stossel's statements had any basis in fact at all. As researcher Dr. Doyle said himself, "All I agreed to do was test for pathogens. I didn't do tests for pesticides." After the researchers disclosed that they hadn't tested for pesticides, the Environmental Working Group sent a letter to Stossel, asking for an explanation. The producer of the segment, David W. Fitzpatrick, responded in a letter by stating that the pesticide tests were conducted and that the results had been forwarded to the Organic Trade Association. Katherine DiMatteo, who is the executive director of the OTA and appeared on the segment in question, said Friday that she had not received any test results of pesticide residue on produce from news program. As of last week, ABC News executives still had not addressed the concerns brought up by the Environmental Working Group; at first they claimed that such pesticide tests were indeed conducted on produce, and then, when informed that the researchers maintain that they did no such testing, they released a statement that they would look into the matter. Furthermore, they said in the statement that "if a mistake was made, we will correct it." Mr. Stossel had no comment. Well, unlike Stossel, we've got a comment or two, and we hope you do too. Please take a chance to write to ABC News and let them know you do not appreciate or respect shoddy, sensationalistic, or one-sided journalism. Let them know that you do not watch news programs where corporate greenwashing is masqueraded as truth, and all the tenets of respectable journalism are disgarded in favor of furthering a hidden agenda. Also, please ask for an on-air apology, a full disclosure of the deception, and, in the interest of restoring lost credibility, the immediate dismissal of John Stossel. This is the address to send general comments to ABC News: http://www.abcnews.go.com/onair/email.html This is John Stossel's message board: http://boards.go.com/cgi/abcnews/request.dll?LIST&room=stossel You can also email Stossel directly at stossel@abc.com or the show 20/20 at 2020@abc.com Want to learn more about John Stossel, the hack for hire? Read a report from the media watch group, Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting Also, Salon magazine has written a story about Stossel: Prime Time Propogandist