Misinformation in the media: global coverage of GMOs 2019-2021

Misinformation is a serious problem in scientific debates ranging from climate change to vaccines to nuclear power. In this study we quantitatively assess the phenomenon of misinformation – defined as information which is at variance with widely-accepted scientific consensus – on genetically modified crops and food (“GMOs”) in the mainstream and online news media over a two-year period. We found an overall falsehood rate of 9% with a potential readership of 256 million. None of the misinformation was positive in sentiment; most was negative. About a fifth of Africa’s media coverage on GMOs contained misinformation, a worrying finding given the potential for genetic engineering to deliver improved nutrition and food security in the continent. We conclude that misinformation about GMOs in the mainstream media is still a significant problem, and outranks the proportion of misinformation in other comparable debates such as COVID-19 and vaccines.在气候变化、疫苗、核电等各类科学议题的公众辩论中，虚假信息均是亟待应对的严峻问题。本研究针对主流与网络新闻媒体在两年周期内发布的转基因作物与食品（Genetically Modified Crops and Food，以下简称GMOs）相关报道，对虚假信息现象开展定量评估——本研究将虚假信息定义为与学界广泛认可的科学共识相悖的信息。研究发现，此类虚假信息的整体占比为9%，相关报道的潜在受众规模达2.56亿人次。所有涉GMOs的虚假信息均无积极情感基调，绝大多数呈现负面导向。非洲地区约五分之一的GMOs相关媒体报道包含虚假信息，鉴于基因工程有望为非洲大陆改善营养状况与提升粮食安全提供助力，这一发现令人担忧。本研究最终得出结论：主流媒体中涉GMOs的虚假信息问题依然严峻，其虚假信息占比高于新冠疫情、疫苗等其他同类科学议题辩论中的虚假信息占比。