Paul D. Thacker

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Paul D. Thacker, sometimes bylined as Paul Thacker, is an American journalist who specializes in science, medicine and environmental reporting. He has written for Science, JAMA, Salon, and The New Republic, and Environmental Science & Technology[2].

In 2006, he won 2nd place in the annual awards presented by the Society of Environmental Journalists.[1] That same year, Thacker’s work was profiled on Expose: America’s Investigative Reports.[2] Thacker's interview can be seen,[3] and the half-hour episode can be viewed online.[4]

In September 2006, Thacker wrote a story for Salon that reported on political suppression of climate science within the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).[5] The agency sits within the Department of Commerce. Chuck Fuqua, an official in Commerce, was choosing which NOAA scientists could speak to the press about the link between global warming and hurricanes. Fuqua has no training in science and Thacker reported that he was director of media relations for the 2004 Republican National Convention.

One of the documents Thacker found was released by the office of Congressman Waxman[3]. Based partly on Thacker’s reporting, 14 Senators launched an investigation into NOAA and NASA.

In 2005, he wrote that Steven J. Milloy had judged the 2004 science journalism contest put on the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The contest is widely cited as the most prestigious prize in science journalism. Milloy is a science columnist for Fox News. Milloy has been a lobbyist for the EOP group, and he had headed up The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition (TASSC), an industry front created by Big Tobacco. Milloy also runs a couple of non-profits from his home that receive money from Exxon-Mobil. After Thacker, revealed Milloy’s ties to industry, AAAS removed any mention of Milloy from its Web site, but Thacker saved a copy of the Web page which can be found in his story.[6][7]

Thacker also reported on a product defense company called The Weinberg Group. In the story, Thacker wrote about a letter that The Weinberg Group sent to DuPont outlining a plan to protect DuPont from litigation and regulation over Teflon.[8] The Weinberg Group had done similar work for Big Tobacco and is currently working in Europe to defeat alcohol regulations.[9]

Thacker’s reporting angered Bill Carroll a board member of the American Chemical Society. He characterized Thacker’s reporting as “anti-industry.”[10] Bill Carroll is the president of the Vinyl Institute and chairs the ACS committee on executive compensation. Thacker later resigned from his job at ACS.[11]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Winners: SEJ 6th Annual Awards for Reporting on the Environment
  2. ^ Expose: America's Investigative Reports
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ Expose: America's Investigative Reports
  5. ^ Climate-controlled White House
  6. ^ Thacker, Paul D. (2005-05-11), “The junkman climbs to the top”, Environmental Science and Technology, <http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2005/may/business/pt_junkscience.html>. Retrieved on 9 July 2007 
  7. ^ Thacker, Paul D. (2005), “In search of Mr. Junk Science and his influence”, SEJournal 15 (2), <http://notes.sej.org/sej/sejourna.nsf/21fd4c7bbafa1be5862568a50017a819/228a9c78609cd8fd86257099000b0991/$FILE/sej_fa05.pdf>. Retrieved on 9 July 2007 
  8. ^ The Weinberg Proposal
  9. ^ A European Alcohol Strategy British Medical Journal
  10. ^ Memo from Alan Newman to Brian Crawford
  11. ^ Investigative Journalism can Produce a "Higher Obligation" SEJournal, Summer 2007.