A Corporate War Against a Scientist, and How He Fought Back

Posted by timothy on Sunday February 9, 2014 @10:42AM from the tools-at-his-disposal dept.

AthanasiusKircher writes "Environmental and health concerns about atrazine — one of the most commonly used herbicides in the U.S. — have been voiced for years, leading to an EU ban and multiple investigations by the EPA. Tyrone Hayes, a Berkeley professor who has spearheaded research on the topic, began to display signs of apparent paranoia over a decade ago. He noticed strangers following him to conferences around the world, taking notes and asking questions aimed to make him look foolish. He worried that someone was reading his email, and attacks against his reputation seemed to be everywhere; search engines even displayed ad hits like 'Tyrone Hayes Not Credible' when his name was searched for. But he wasn't paranoid: documents released after a lawsuit from Midwestern towns against Syngenta, the manufacturer of atrazine, showed a coordinated smear campaign. Syngenta's public relations team had a list of ways to defend its product, topped by 'discredit Hayes.' Its internal list of methods: 'have his work audited by 3rd party,' 'ask journals to retract,' 'set trap to entice him to sue,' 'investigate funding,' 'investigate wife,' etc. A recent New Yorker article chronicles this war against Hayes, but also his decision to go on the offensive and strike back. He took on the role of activist against atrazine, giving over 50 public talks on the subject each year, and even taunting Syngenta with profanity-laced emails, often delivered in a rapping 'gangsta' style. The story brings up important questions for science and its public persona: How do scientists fight a PR war against corporations with unlimited pockets? How far should they go?"

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Re:Sounds like he was enjoying himself! by Anonymous Coward · 2014-02-09 10:52 · Score: 0, Offtopic

Wow. You read all the articles and links quickly. Amazing how quickly you cam to know how he responded or what was asked.
How do we fight back against Beta? by Anonymous Coward · 2014-02-09 10:53 · Score: 0, Offtopic

We boycott Slashdot.
Slashcott: February 10-February 17.
1. Re:How do we fight back against Beta? by AmiMoJo · 2014-02-09 11:00 · Score: 0, Offtopic
  
  The Slashdot boycott starts in an hour in the UK. Seems like posts about it are being modded off-topic now, which is a shame because the beta site is very much still alive and very much still awful. The classic site is still slated to go away at some point, and the basic design of the beta site isn't going to change.
  It's not like we haven't been saying that the beta site is a disaster for months. The goal is to keep the classic site around forever. We are not saying it shouldn't change or be improved, just that the beta isn't an acceptable alternative and that our concerns have not been addressed.
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Let's do this! by Anonymous Coward · 2014-02-09 10:56 · Score: 0, Offtopic

Fuck Beta. Boycott Slashdot!
No sex with Beta for the next week by Anonymous Coward · 2014-02-09 11:10 · Score: 0, Offtopic

Fuck Beta. Sorry, I'm boycotting sex with Beta this week. Maybe next week.