Lack of refrigeration meant spoiled food was constantly causing vomiting, diarrhea and other ghastly symptoms. Children were carried off by a multitude of diseases. And women died in childbirth with appalling regularity, leaving children behind. Because, Mr. Fumento believes, there are professional scare-mongers out there with incredible influence over the mass media. But Mr. Fumento notes, environmentalists are motivated by greed, too.
Scares help contributions and book sales.
Fewer than one-third of experts on cancer agreed. The bias toward environmentalists and against science is so strong that the American people have been repeatedly exposed to large doses of unnecessary panic. From alar and dioxin to PVCs and silicone, the media create one scare after another - and not just about chemicals. After every plane crash, the press whips up hysteria about flying, despite the reality that flying is safer than driving or even walking. Mona Charen is a nationally syndicated columnist.