Document 4k46pJr5YJrBnO3pp8yyLQjN

Monsantp f h o m |N *M K -L O C *T IO M -M O t D . R. Bishop-- -F3EB4 m x March 23, 1983 crCHENCI TO R. T. Berendt - E2ND T. M. Bistline - E2ND D. L. Coleman - G2WF A. M. "Ford*- A2SA G. F. Fort - F3EC J. F. Hussey - F3EA G. D. Ingenthron - F3EB F. E. Kearney - E2SA W. J. McCarville - G3WG P. S. Park - G3WB G Roush G2WG J. H. Spraul - G2WF" M. C.~"ihrodahl - DID E. Tollman- - G2WF J. D. Wilson - G3WG F.Y.I., attached letters were messengered today. cA- 4A Dan R. Bishop Attachments 3| ^c^ C 04'H 237063 Monsanto P V B U C R ELA T IO N S D EPA R TM EN T Monsanto Company 8 0 0 N Lindbergh Boulevard St Louis. M issouri 83167 Phone (314) 6 9 4 - 1 0 0 0 March 23, 1983 Mr. Eric Newhouse Associated Press 900 N. Tucker Blvd. St. Louis, Missouri 63101 Dear Mr. Newhouse: The Associated Press told half a story about Agent Orange and dioxin as it appeared in the March 18 front page of the St, Louis Post-Dispatch. The AP story concerned Vietnamese research suggesting that the offspring of men exposed to dioxin run an abnormally high risk of being born with birth defects. What was the half of the story left untold? It was that recent Australian research on its Vietnam veterans found "no evidence that army service in Vietnam relates to the risk of fathering a child with an anomaly." Did the AP not know of this work? Other news media did. The March 18 New York Times discussed both the Vietnamese and Australian studies in the same story and correctly pointed out that "conflicting conclusions" were reached. Apparently a conflict also exists on the reaction of American scientists who reviewed the Vietnamese research. The AP story said that these scientists "are impressed" by the work. But a February 27 article in the Washington Post stated that the U.S. researchers "concluded that none of the Vietnamese reports was scientifically valid." I obviously don't know why the Associated Press told only half a dioxin story, but I regret that it missed the opportunity for balanced coverage of a subject so vital to our Vietnam veterans and the public, especially Missourians. Sincerely, DRB:ec Enclosures Dan R. Bishop Director, Environmental Communications 237064