MEDIA ADVISORY
April 23, 2010 -- CMPCC -- A few national and international media outlets, instead of carrying out analysis and reports on the fundamental challenge of climate change, decided to distract the public with a distorted and inaccurate account of a speech by President Morales.
Various media reports are misinforming the public, saying that Morales has linked eating chicken with homosexuality. In his exact words, Morales said that “chicken that we are eating is full of feminine hormones, which is why men who eat this chicken have changes in their being as men. I have read some information that isn’t from me, asking about a daughter of one and a half years who already had breasts..”
Morales said nothing about sexuality, only that eating meat with artificial hormones is producing changes in our body. This is a perspective supported by some scientists, and reflected in European Union policy which bans the use of certain hormones in food. The British pharmaceutical specialist and representative on the Veterinary Products Committee, John Verall BDA said in 2008 that “it is very clear that much smaller quantities of sexual hormones in our food than we previously thought is causing abnormalities in the genitals of boys premature puberty in girls and increasing the risk of cancer later in life.”
In addition to these distortions, the coverage given to this issue demonstrates that the media is not treating the climate crisis with sufficient seriousness. During the whole conference, there have been debates on fundamental issues such as adaptation to climate change, testimonies of communities that are already suffering climate change, and the proposals of concrete actions such as the formation of a Climate Justice Tribunal. The fact that a few media outlets have chosen instead to manipulate the public is a poor reflection of the state of some media who should be taking responsibility for informing the public about a crisis that will affect us all.
For more information: Gadir Lavadenz – media@cmpcc.org o tel (+591 2) 2 113161 Nick Buxton – nicholasbuxton@gmail.com o tel +591 740 56695