Manufactured controversy
A manufactured controversy (sometimes shortened to manufactroversy) is a contrived disagreement, typically motivated by profit or ideology, designed to create public confusion concerning an issue about which there is no substantial academic dispute.[1][2] This concept has also been referred to as manufactured uncertainty.[3]
Mechanisms of manufacturing controversy and uncertainty
Manufacturing controversy has been a tactic used by ideological and corporate groups to "neutralize the influence of academic scientists" in public policy debates.
Alan D. Attie describes its process as "to amplify uncertainties, cherry-pick experts, attack individual scientists, marginalize the traditional role of distinguished scientific bodies and get the media to report "both sides" of a manufactured controversy."[4]
Those manufacturing uncertainty may label academic research as "
Another tactic used to manufacture controversy is to cast the
Legal effects
In the United States, the generation of manufactured uncertainty about scientific data has affected political and legal proceedings in many different areas. The Data Quality Act and the Supreme Court's Daubert standard have been cited as tools used by those manufacturing controversy to obfuscate scientific consensus.[3][4]
Concerns have been raised regarding the
Prominent examples
Examples of controversies that have been labeled manufactured controversies:
- Denial of the health risks of smoking tobacco by the tobacco lobby[4]
- Depletion of the ozone layer[4]
- Climate change denial[2]
- Contesting the development of
- Denial of the Armenian genocide by the government of Turkey[10][11]
- Rwandan genocide denial[12]
- autism spectrum disorders.[13]
- AIDS denialism[2]
- "Teach the Controversy" efforts of intelligent design supporters[2]
- Carcinogenicity of hexavalent chromium[9]
See also
- Astroturfing
- Denialism
- Fear, uncertainty and doubttactic used in business
- Merchants of Doubt book and Merchants of Doubt
- Scientific consensus
- Uncertainty
References
- ^ Manufactroversy: "A contrived or non-existent controversy, manufactured by political ideologues or interest groups who use deception and specious arguments to make their case", Paul McFedries, Wordspy.com, December 16, 2009
- ^ Science Progress. Center for American Progress. Archived from the originalon August 21, 2019.
- ^ PMID 16030339.
- ^ PMC 1386128.
- ^ PMID 16030337.
- ^ "The Paranoid Style in American Science: 3. Contrary Imaginations", Daniel Engber, Slate, April 17, 2008
- ^ "The Paranoid Style in American Science: 2. An Uncertain Truth", Daniel Engber, Slate, April 16, 2008
- PMID 20027493.
- ^ PMID 16504102.
- ^ Holthouse, David (Summer 2008). "State of Denial Turkey Spends Millions to Cover Up Armenian Genocide. Intelligence Report" (130).
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - S2CID 154623321.
- ISBN 978-1-351-29500-0.
- Skeptic Magazine. 15 (2).
Further reading
- ISBN 978-0-19-530067-3.
- Harker, David (2016). Creating Scientific Controversies: Uncertainty and Bias in Science and Society. Cambridge University Press.
- ^ Branch, Glenn (2017). "Understanding Manufactroversies". Skeptical Inquirer. 41 (3): 60–62.