HARVARD CENTER IS A FRONT FOR MAD COW PR

January 20, 2004

In our book Trust Us, We're Experts! we describe the " third party

technique " that PR experts use. Reassuring words come from the

mouths of supposed objective scientific experts to convince the

public that a crisis is really no problem at all. A current example

would be the industry front group called the Harvard Center for

Risk Analysis. This organization has an impressive sounding name,

but it is funded by and fronts for industry. Under Clinton's

Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman it received $800,000 to

produce an elaborate risk analysis study concluding that mad cow

disease would be no problem in the US. Now that the disease is

here, the US Department of Agriculture is refusing to take the

necessary steps to stop it. Instead, the Harvard Center is all over

the news media assuring the public that mad cow disease in the US

is no big deal. Unfortunately, most news media so far are falling

for this trick, treating the Harvard Center with a respect that it

does not deserve instead of exposing its paid role in the

government and industry PR campaign on mad cow disease.

SOURCE: January 14, 2004

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