Tell American Public Media to Stop Letting Monsanto Leverage Its Reputation!

Tell American Public Media to Stop Letting Monsanto Leverage Its Reputation!

I pledge to...

<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://capwiz.com/grassrootsnetroots/issues/alert/?alertid=13418576">http://capwiz.com/grassrootsnetroots/issues/alert/?alertid=13418576</a><br /><br /><b>Tell American Public Media to Stop Letting Monsanto Leverage Its Reputation!</b><br /><br /><br /><br />Monsanto's Greenwashing Ads on NPR<br />
<p>If you listen to NPR stations that carry the program Marketplace, you've probably heard the 12 second ad that Monsanto has been running that says: Marketplace is supported by Monsanto, committed to sustainable agriculture, creating hybrid and biotech seeds designed to increase crop yields and conserve natural resources. Learn more at ProduceMoreConserveMore.com.</p>
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<p>Tell American Public Media, which produces the Marketplace program, to stop spreading Monsanto's lies.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_18079.cfm">Learn more and Take Action<br /><br />http://capwiz.com/grassrootsnetroots/issues/alert/?alertid=13418576<br /><br />I listen to an NPR station that carries the program Marketplace, and I've been troubled by the 12 second ad that Monsanto has been running that says, "Marketplace is supported by Monsanto, committed to sustainable agriculture, creating hybrid and biotech seeds designed to increase crop yields and conserve natural resources. Learn more at ProduceMoreConserveMore.com"</a></p>
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<p>American Public Media, which produces the Marketplace program, solicits the support of companies like Monsanto with the slogan, "Leverage our reputation. Magnify your reach."</p>
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<p>Monsanto has clearly taken you up on your offer and, in doing so, has leveraged Marketplace's reputation for journalistic integrity.</p>
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<p>For its April 14, 2009, story "Germany says no to Monsanto's corn," Marketplace reporters interviewed a Monsanto spokesperson along with one representative of a group opposed to genetic engineering and one in support, giving the pro-GE side two-thirds of the air-time and failing to mention that the pro-GE group, CropGen is funded by Monsanto.</p>
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<p>On August 27, 2008, Monsanto's CEO Hugh Grant was featured in Kai Ryssdal's "Corner Office" segment, in pieces called "Using technology to grow more food" and "Seeding markets for food, fuel and feed." The interview was front-loaded with softballs like, "There's a satisfaction I imagine in essentially helping to feed the world. But it's not all altruism. You guys make a lot of money doing it."</p>
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<p>None of his questions could be described as "hard-hitting," but Ryssdal didn't entirely avoid touching on the core of Monsanto's business model, herbicide-tolerant crops. He asked, "You make a Round-Up resistant corn and then you also make Round-Up so that the farmer can spray the Round-Up on the corn. Not hurt the corn, but kill the weeds. That's a pretty good business model." Ryssdal might have mentioned that herbicide use in the US was up 138 million pounds in the first nine years after Monsanto's Roundup Ready crops were introduced, and this increase is accelerating, with approximately 120 million more pounds used in years 10 and 11.</p>
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<p>Marketplace could deleverage its damaged reputation by covering a new report from Doug Gurian-Sherman of the Union of Concerned Scientists showing that &ldquo;transgenic herbicide-tolerant soybeans and corn have not increased operational yields.&rdquo; The study, called Failure to Yield, contradicts Monsanto's advertising campaign which claims that the company&rsquo;s genetically modified seeds significantly increase crop yields.</p>
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<p>The only agricultural practice proven to sustainably increase crop yields while improving the soil's water-holding capacity is organic.</p>

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