It would be one thing if these people were joking, but they were serious. They didn't just think that they were pulling off a good scam. In the popular image, scientists are dispassionate, objective searchers after truth. A scientist, this model assumes, is someone whose pursuit of the truth begins with independent discovery, proceeds to criticism by peers, and then to publication and use for the common good. In recent years, however, this idealized image has come under challenge from a variety of critics.
Unconscious biases do undoubtedly exist, as do deliberate deceptions.
Yet neither of these explanations is adequate. In order to understand the manipulations that are practiced today in the name of science, it is necessary also to understand the particular habits and practices of a particular class of experts who specialize in the management of perception itself, namely, the public relations industry. This credo does not necessarily tell you much else about what Burson-Marsteller believes. Just as attorneys are hired to advocate the point of view of their clients, Burson-Marsteller's job is not to hold opinions of its own but to promote those of its clients. And yet companies like Burson-Marsteller have become important arbiters in determining which experts appear on the public stage.