Accuracy Matters - Especially in Journalism

Today, The Guardian published a story by Oliver Milman that I was never interviewed for (https://shorturl.at/hORMV)

Instead, the article appears to rely solely on comments I made during an interview with Politico's Marcia Brown (https://shorturl.at/dfvpN)

As a result, the headline attributes a characterization that does not accurately reflect what I said.

I did NOT say that President Trump's handling of the Cyclospora outbreak was "catastrophic."

My use of the word "catastrophic" referred to the unprecedented magnitude of Cyclospora illnesses being reported this year—nearly 15,000 cases reported by states, almost 14 times higher than in previous years.  And remember, this number only represents a fraction of the total number of Americans who are actually ill, because many will not seek medically attention and be laboratory confirmed.  The actual number is many fold higher.  For example, for other parasites such as Giardia, for every reported case there could be 80 that go unreported.  You do the math.  That’s why I’m saying it’s catastrophic!

While I have noted there were aspects of the response that deserve a careful post-season, independent review so we can learn and improve future outbreak prevention and response, that is very different from describing the Administration's handling as "catastrophic."

In fact, that’s why I’ve been calling for, in general, the establishment of an independent Foodborne Outbreak Investigation Board (https://shorturl.at/Q3LxS)

Words matter. Context matters. Headlines matter.

Ironically, this comes just after my recent podcast series discussing the media's role in food safety reporting and why public trust in journalism has eroded. (https://lnkd.in/gXxFvnXf)

I've contacted The Guardian and requested that the headline be corrected to accurately reflect my comments. I hope they make that correction.

We should all expect reporting that faithfully represents what sources actually say—not what a more attention-grabbing headline might suggest.