Scripps Howard News Service
The Scripps Howard News Service is a wire service for newspapers produced by the E. W. Scripps Company.
The End of a Columnist
"Scripps Howard News Service announced Jan. 13 that it's severing its business relationship with columnist Michael Fumento, who's also a senior fellow at the conservative Hudson Institute. The move comes after inquiries from BusinessWeek Online about payments Fumento received from agribusiness giant Monsanto -- a frequent subject of praise in Fumento's opinion columns and a book." Scripps Howard general manager Peter Copeland said Fumento "did not tell SHNS editors, and therefore we did not tell our readers, that in 1999 Hudson received a $60,000 grant from Monsanto." The grant was for Fumento's book BioEvolution. Fumento called himself "extremely pro-biotech" and said he told Monsanto about the book, "The biotech industry is going to look really good, and you should contribute." Fumento said his recent columns, including a January 5 piece praising new Monsanto products, were not "quid pro quo." He added, "I think there's a statue of limitations on that."
Contact details
Scripps Media Center
1090 Vermont Ave. N.W. Suite 1000
Washington, D.C. USA 20005
Phone: 1.202.408.1484
Fax: 1.202.408.5950
Web: http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm
External links
- Eamon Javers, "A Columnist Backed by Monsanto: Michael Fumento's failure to disclose payments to him in 1999 from the agribusiness giant have now caused Scripps Howard to sever its ties to him," BusinessWeek Online, January 13, 2006.
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