The Entrenched GMO Narrative

Regular readers of Collide-a-Scape know that I'm interested in popular narratives that shape public discourse. I'm specifically interested in how science and environment-related topics are covered in the media, and how this coverage tends to create dominant narratives. Along these lines, I've explored the genesis and amplification of varied media narratives, from Jared Diamond's collapse meme and Paul Brodeur's power lines/cancer connection reportage to Vandana Shiva's GMO/Indian farmer suicide storyline. One interesting pattern, as these cases suggest, is that sometimes the emergence and staying power of a particular narrative owes to an influential science writer, well-placed journalist, or popular activist. In other cases, a narrative coalesces around a stock villain, such as Monsanto as the great Satan, or a phrase like the "new normal," a term that associates severe weather events with man-made climate change. I like to explore how these memes originate and what sustains them. I have the feeling that not everybody shares this interest. So when another journalist researches the archives for a story on how agricultural biotechnology became so controversial, it's worth noting. Here's the opening scene Brooke Borel sets for her piece recently published at Modern Farmer: