News Coverage
Sins of Omission and Emphasis
Published October 22, 2007
Read New York Times: "Industry Money Fans Debate on Fish"
A Page 1 story on an advisory from the Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition, which urged pregnant and breast-feeding women to eat at least 12 ounces of fish a week, was criticized by environmental groups that cite the danger of mercury contamination in fish. The Oct. 4 article by reporter Sally Squires said the advisory came from "a coalition of top scientists from private groups and federal agencies" and is at odds with advice from the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency. The recommendation did not originate with coalition members; in fact many of them knew nothing of it. It came from the Maternal Nutrition Group, comprising 14 physicians, researchers and nutritionists, most of whom are at universities. The coalition's board of directors, which does not include scientists or any federal officials, decided the recommendation should be publicized, said Judy Meehan, the coalition's executive director. Officials of the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expressed their opposition to the advisory in a letter that The Post published Oct. 13. Squires said she called both agencies in reporting the story, but officials declined to comment. The coalition has since posted on its Web site a disclaimer that the coalition board's approval of the advisory "in no way implies that it has been endorsed by our member organizations." Squires's story should have mentioned that the National Fisheries Institute, an industry trade group, paid $60,000 to publicize the study and $16,000 for travel expenses and honoraria for members of the nutrition group, which met recently in Chicago. NFI spokesman Mary Anne Hansan said the group did not pay for any of the research. "New and independent scientific research about eating fish deserves a full and fair hearing, which is why the seafood industry openly supported this public discourse," she said. James McGregor, a visiting professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Southern California and convener of the Maternal Nutrition Group, said he asked the NFI for the money because "there's only so many ways to get people together." Science Editor Nils Bruzelius said he and Squires were aware of the institute money and "in hindsight, I wish we had included it." He said he did not realize that coalition members were not endorsing the advisory. "I had the impression they had endorsed these recommendations, which went into my thinking in offering the story for Page 1." Squires is writing a column on the controversy for Tuesday's Health section. The confusion over who was endorsing the recommendation should have led to a prompt second story or a clarification. New York Times article on the subject: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/17/dining/17fish.html Deborah Howell can be reached at 202-334-7582 or atombudsman@washpost.com.