Merchants of doubt

Hafsa Mudassar
Contents
Introduction
summary
conclusion
film maker's perspective
U O Y R O F K R O W E C AP S N I K R O W E K A M
introduction
Corporate Giants
It explains how a small but loud group
of researchers were able to mislead the
public about the truths around global
warming, tobacco, DDT, and other
important issues for decades.
Misleading Information
When they got wind of the studies
showing the harmful effects of
smoking, the tobacco companies in
the US came together and did the only
thing they could: spread confusion.
Challenging the scientific research
that revealed smoking’s ill-effects,
they paid for research to prove it
wasn’t all that harmful. 
Doubts in the Industry
This isn’t the only time that people in
a position of power were able to skew
scientific results in their favor and
cast a shadow of doubt among the
public. Other examples include the
dangers of pesticide DDT, global
warming, and nuclear weapons.
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Summary The US Government

In the 1970s, the US government

Tobacco Industry skewed scientific research on acid rain
to benefit big corporations. 
The tobacco industry didn’t just mislead
people about the harmful effects of
smoking, they cast doubt over science Corporate Giants
itself. 

Even though science proves global

warming, individuals have been
misleading the public about it for
decades.
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Conclusion
• Freedom of the press is important so that citizens have access to information and can make informed decisions. However, “some
‘sides’ represent deliberate disinformation spread by well-organized and well-funded vested interests, or ideologically driven
denial of the facts”.

• The Internet has allowed the purveyance and the immortality of disinformation: “The result is plain to see…Nearly a quarter still
think that there’s no solid evidence that smoking kills. And as recently as 2007, 40 percent of American believed that scientific
experts were still arguing about the reality of global warming”. Many of these skeptical claims are based on ignoring evidence, and
the media failed to report that these skeptics also had ties to the industries they were defending.

• Although some of this can be forgiven in terms of ignorance, there is also

proof that some media sources worked directly with these industries to
Skeptics in 2007
promote disruptive claims, especially regarding the tobacco issues. In most

40%
30%
of these cases, “‘balance’ became a form of bias, whereby the media
coverage was biased in favor of minority—in some cases extreme minority—
views”.
• Disinformation continues to happen, including with the War on Terror, during
which retired generals spoke as so-called independent experts on the
success of the war; recently, it has come to light that many were hired by
military contractors with stakes in keeping the war going.
 FILM MAKER'S PERSPECTIVE
U O Y R O F K R O W E C AP S N I K R O W E K A M

Robert Kenner - Filmmakers/Director

A B C D

Deceptive tactics

Perils of Global Warming

Inspired by a Book - Naomi Oreskes & Erik Conway

Visual metaphors

Corporate Giants

Tactics of Media Showmen

Doubts/Scientific Contrversies

Well-funded Campaign of Deception