How Much for Some Hot Disinformation Action?
Fox News science correspondent, Steven Milloy, has made a career of disparaging scientific research disfavored by big business. Fox periodically wheels him out to criticize studies on global warming or secondhand smoke as “junk science.”
As it turns out, debunking the liberal science conspiracy was only his day job. He made his real money as a paid consultant for the tobacco, oil and chemical industries.
Milloy has been affiliated with FoxNews.com since July 2000. On March 9, 2001, he wrote a column for the website headlined “secondhand smokescreen.” The piece attacked a study by researcher Stephen Hecht, who found that women living with smokers had higher levels of chemicals associated with risk of lung cancer….” Later that spring, he authored another smoking-related piece for FoxNews.com. In that one, he cast aside two decades of research on the dangers of exposure to secondhand smoke…. [A]ll the while, he was on the payroll of big tobacco. According to Lisa Gonzalez, manager of external communications for Altria, the parent company of Philip Morris, Milloy was under contract there through the end of last year…. Although she couldn’t comment on fees paid to Milloy, a January 2001 Philip Morris budget report lists Milloy as a consultant and shows that he was budgeted for $92,500 in fees and expenses in both 2000 and 2001.
At least he’s not a cheap whore.
UPDATE: When I found the article on the New Republic Online web site last night, the full text was available. Today, it’s listed as a subscriber-only article. You’ll need a subscription to read the whole thing.
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