Re: "The Plutonium Files"- A Question of Ethics

[Steven Dapra <sjd@iolnm.net>]

Jan. 5

	My thanks to Ron Kathren for his revealing posting about Eileen Welsome
and journalistic "ethics."  She tried to blame her "mistake" on her editor,
eh?  That reminded me of an anecdote about editors that I heard from a
reporter.  It's not about the plutonium experiments, but it is germane to
RADSAFE.

	Albuquerque lies at the foot of the Sandia Mountains.  Sandia Crest has an
elevation of about 10,300 feet, so it has a lot of radio towers on it.
Approximately two years ago there was a brief uproar about the
electromagnetic fields (EMFs) around the towers.  None of the articles in
the Albuquerque Journal gave radiation levels, so I called the reporter who
was writing them and asked why she hadn't included the levels.  She told me
that it was futile to do so, because if she did her editor would cut them
out of the article.

	Interesting, huh?  Does the cliche "the public's right to know" come to mind?

	To return to Welsome, compare her treatment of Ron with her treatment of
Ruth Weiner (RADSAFE, Jan 3; RE: "The Plutonium Files").  (Dr. Weiner
reported that Welsome refused to change some dose errors in her article
when they were pointed out to her.)

Steven Dapra
sjd@iolnm.net


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