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Despite mounting evidence that the novel coronavirus originated in nature, U.S. media including CNN, Intercept and the Atlantic continue to promote the virus’s laboratory leak theory, wrote Michael Hiltzik, a journalist receiving the award. Pulitzer Prize.
The article, titled “New Evidence Undermines COVID Lab Leak Theory – But Press Keeps Pushing It,” appeared in the Los Angeles Times earlier this week.
“When it comes to the pandemic, pseudoscience has trumped real science at almost every turn. One of the best examples is the unsubstantiated claim that the virus that causes COVID-19 is growing. escaped from a Chinese lab, â€Hiltzik wrote.
The laboratory leak allegation, which first emerged during the Trump administration, was part of a “White House information campaign demonizing China,” he noted.
Hiltzik cited a series of recent studies on the origins of COVID-19 by virologists, all of which have added to the evidence that the virus has passed from animals to humans.
However, some American media downplayed or totally ignored the latest scientific findings, while continuing to tout the laboratory leak hypothesis with deceptive techniques, he said.
Last month, CNN aired a one-hour documentary titled “The Origins of COVID-19: Finding the Source.” In the program, it seemed that proponents of the zoonotic origin theory and those of the laboratory leak theory were getting airtime.
Supporters of the zoonotic origin theory are all professional virologists, including Kristian Andersen of the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla and Peter Daszak, a distinguished zoologist.
But as Hiltzik pointed out, guests supporting the lab leak theory include Alina Chan, a researcher at the Broad Institute, a biomedical research center, and Josh Rogin, a columnist for the Washington Post, who have no background in virology. . The program also didn’t mention the fact that Chan is co-authoring a book on the origins of COVID-19 that should highlight the theory of lab leaks.
“By posing these two theories as just two equally plausible solutions to a mystery, CNN glosses over the fact that the virological community views animal origin as much more likely than a lab leak. In fact, both hypotheses are miles away from credibility, “Hiltzik wrote.
He drew attention to the two clear trends in researching the origins of COVID-19: Evidence of artificial manipulation of the virus has faded, while zoonotic transmission constantly accumulates.
“No one should be trusted to report the problem without recognizing these two trends,†he wrote.
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