Advocacy groups such as the Center for Science in the Public Interest and PETA survive on stunt lawsuits and press releases that do nothing to advance scientific debate but do a lot to goose their donor rolls.
NPR's Corb O'Connor fell for it today by giving the CSPI a platform on its prestigious Marketplace program for a junk lawsuit against Denny's. CSPI picked Denny's to sue because it is perpetually the butt of jokes about its downscale clientele and cuisine - but the suit would have applied equally to just about any restaurant or packaged food producer.
There are numerous talking heads on the other side of the issue who would have loved at the chance to engage CSPI in debate - including the American Council on Science and Health and the American Enterprise Institute but instead NPR used old tape of Denny's CEO being interviewed elsewhere as well as a statement from a trade organization for restaurants that is moving to adopt salt-labeling efforts in attempt to get ahead of any pending litigation or regulation.
Without any achievements on which to hang their advocacy, CSPI resorts to these stunts to grab media attention. Across the public relations industry, successful employment of these tactics is the market of great creativity. Selling a story that has news and substance behind it is easier than having to craft something compelling out of the air. Courts and legislators didn't do that - the media's complicity in junk lawsuits did.
To promote a food products client, a colleague once came up with a plan to have each major city name its specialty hot dog and rolled out the contest to local news stations nationally. There is a difference, however, between applying creativity to craft an idea that is transparently a fun diversion and fear-mongering.
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