Sources: Fox News, WSJ, Huff Post, NYTimes, ABC News
With the recent news of the “Monsanto Protection Act” and supermarket chain Whole Foods announcing their push to display transparent food labels, there has been some debate about genetically modified foods.
On March 26th, President Obama signed into law H.R. 933, the “Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013,” which includes the Agricultural Appropriations Bill, and will expire on September 30th, 2013. Many food activists have protested and called the provision the Monstanto Protection Act. They have found that it protects biotech companies against lawsuits, even if there is a need to stop GMO distribution because of possible public health issues. Also, Whole Foods has decided to require the labeling of GMOs from suppliers. This makes the supermarket chain the first in the nation to mandate this type of labeling.
While an op-ed in Wall Street Journal presented GMOs as more of a benefit to the public, an op-ed in the New York Times discussed the dangers of allowing companies the freedom to produce GMOs. THe WSJ piece explained why people should not be too concerned with genetically modified food because the FDA and various researchers claim there are no harmful risks. It also describes how it can help poorer nations that need modified supplements The NYTimes piece discusses that GMOs can have the potential to become hazardous. I found it interesting that Fox News used a photo from 2008 depicting signs from Greenpeace activists that showed “angry or “evil” corn. In the article, they discuss the disapproval of President Obama signing the spending bill. A story in ABC News discusses the controversy over GMOs. The report explains how scientists are developing hypo-allergenic apples. They present a mostly unbiased story, which states both sides of the issue.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/30/obama-signs-bill-that-protects-makers-genetically-engineered-crops-from-federal/
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324105204578380872639718046.html
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/scientists-developing-hypo-allergenic-apples/story?id=18782570#.UW9ukCt34eE
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/02/monsanto-protection-act-tea-party-partiots_n_3000073.html
I think the most interesting comparison here is the way the Huffington Post and Fox covered the issue. They are, as one Huffington Post reporter once self-identified in a conversation with me, “Flaming Liberals”. Fighting GMOs, picketing meat, and buying only-organic from the famers market is often associated with the Left. However, in this case, according to the Foxnews article, President Obama approved a… provision [that] protects Monsanto and other makers of genetically modified seeds and crops from federal courts. GASP. Furthermore, Tea Party groups were opposed to protecting Monsanto and GMOs. What is it, Freaky Friday? The HuffPo made sure to clarify that the bill was “slipped anonymously into the Senate version of the continuing resolution as part of the Agricultural Appropriations Bill” while Fox used the solid, “President Obama approved” without any further explanation.
The picture used by Fox probably can’t be analyzed as biased or condemning to either side, since the Huffington Post actually used a similar image of angry-corn-face protests in their slideshow.