To the Washington Post
RE: “Scientists battle over the ultimate origin story: Where did the coronavirus come from:” The world is seriously hampered in its effort to understand the origins of SARS-CoV-2 by the censorship of scientists and others in the United States. It is apocalyptically immoral.
Over the last two to three decades there has been a surge in restrictions by employers banning employees from ever speaking to journalists without notifying the authorities, often through public information officers.
This minder/censor system has an overwhelming tendency to silence people about anything that doesn’t fit the official story. Beyond that so many burdens and delays are placed on contacts using that chokepoint that often employees and reporters are never able to speak.
Surveys have found the restrictions are pervasive many types of workplaces. In the federal government, including science agencies, the constraints are ferocious. These include the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Food and Drug Administration. This is in face of the fact that journalists routinely prove that many times the only way facts and perspectives emerge is through conversations with reporters. Sometimes those critical contacts must be confidential, without the knowledge of the bosses or their minions.
Unfortunately, there are stories we don’t get for years, if ever.
In 2019 negotiations in the House Science, Space and Technology Committee killed a proposal that would have allowed scientists, only, a little freedom to speak without censors. In 2020, as Covid deaths began to mount, CDC officials stressed to its media staff that it was not necessary to let any particular reporter speak to the person requested, no matter how persistent the request.
Thousands of scientists are effectively silenced as we round four million deaths worldwide: How can we go on with this?
SPJ surveys, etc. Public information officers - Society of Professional Journalists (spj.org)
