Read the article “The Monsanto Papers: Poisoning the scientific well” + “The Monsanto case” presentation (both attached to the instructions posted on Moodle).
Based on the article and the materials in the presentation:
1. Identify the strategies and tactics used by Monsanto-Bayer to influence public opinion, media coverage and policy-making regarding the safety of their product Roundup (glyphosate) in order to deal with the crisis posed by the IARC decision.
A. What were the source strategies used and through which tactics were they implemented? (20 points)
B. What were the message strategies used and through which tactics were they implemented? (20 points)
C. Consider Aristotle’s three approaches to designing compelling messages, and explain which of Aristotle’s approaches fit these strategies, and why? (5 points).
D. According to Grunig and Hunt’s 4 models of public relations: Which ethical model (Grunig and Hunt’s models) do you think the strategies and tactics you found represent, and why? (5 points).
2. Relate to the article “” (MacKenzie et al., 2008), and the introduction to the article “” (Len-Ros et al., 2009).
Based on the articles and the class presentation on this topic:
A. How would a researcher from the Agenda Setting theory relate to the media coverage described in this study? Explain and elaborate on the theory (20 points)
B. How would a researcher from the Agenda Building theory relate to this coverage? Explain and elaborate on the theory (20 points).