Salmon of the Americas takes issue with NYT article
USA: The New York Times published a story March 27, 2008, about salmon farming contains numerous distortions and factual errors and should be considered unreliable, Salmon of the Americas say.
Worst was NYT's claim that hormones are used in salmon farming. In fact, hormones have never been used in salmon farming practices, a fact that could have easily been confirmed. By publishing that falsehood, the Times recklessly alarmed consumers and harmed salmon-related businesses.
Salmon of the Americas identified multiple factual errors and other breaches of journalism standards and brought those problems to the attention of supervising editors.
Since publishing the article, the Times has come under criticism from publications like Conde Nast Portfolio, Editor and Publisher and Gawker. Most noted that the reporter, Alexei Barrionuevo, had twice before been cited for plagiarism - though why his editors didn't fact check this story more closely in light of that record remains a mystery. Additionally, the Chilean newspaper, El Mercurio, interviewed Flores and said that he had never met Barrionuevo. In response to industry queries, The New York Times insisted that Barrionuevo has evidence to support this, but has yet to share it with the industry. Salmon of the Americas urges food and science editors in North America to disregard the paper's reporting as flawed, and to contact the trade association directly in regards to questions about the industry in Chile.
Salmon of the Americas intends to document our efforts to hold The Times accountable at this website: www.salmonfacts.org
