CSIRO and the reporting of research results.

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An interesting discussion in CSIRO at the moment, on freedom of staff to report research finding:

“The CSIRO is grappling with claims it is trying to censor the work of an economist who has criticised the policy at the centre of the Federal Government’s response to climate change.”

For more details, see:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/11/05/2733825.htm

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2 thoughts on “CSIRO and the reporting of research results.”

  1. Thanks Toss

    I listened to that item with great interest this morning (above the sound of the morning zoo)

    I have also still not seen any official response from the CSIRO to Geoff Russell’s allegation that CSIRO held back its own research results which showed that people on a low-meat diet lost just as much weight as did people on the high-meat diet prescribed in the best-selling ‘CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet’.

    In his book ‘CSIRO Perfidy’ Russell makes some very disturbing claims about CSIRO’s corporate behaviour (and communications behaviour). These are worrying whether you agree with Russell or not, although they have been somewhat clouded by more sensational discussion about bowel cancer and animal rights issues.

    In essence Russell alleges that the CSIRO manipulated the release of research results to please its sponsor and maximise book sales, over-riding significant public health and environmental responsibilities.

    I recommend people interested in CSIRO’s corporate behaviour should read Russell’s book – see: http://perfidy.com.au (I am not an animal rights activist, nor a vegetarian, nor – thanks Niall – a conspiracy theorist – but I am an former CSIRO communicator and science journalist, and I found many of his claims troubling). I will suspend my own judgement until I see a CSIRO response, but I do feel a response is needed.

    I recall issues like that affecting Chris Spash coming up when I worked for CSIRO headquarters in the early 1990s. The organisation did not then have a clear way of dealing with them. Divisions in those days had more clout, and were able to defend individual scientists more effectively from Corporate Centre censorship, but it was always a hard issue (as I am sure Toss will also remember).

    My own feeling is that CSIRO still has some way to go to clean up its act after some of its less glorious moments under the Howard administration.

    David Mussared

    href=”mailto:director@tossgascoigne.com.au”>director@tossgascoigne.com.au

  2. Ah well there you go… years ago there was a real concern among the conservatives in CSIRO that the socio-economic area was not within the Organisation’s terms of reference.

    The real thinkers saw the importance of it.

    Wendy P

    href=”mailto:director@tossgascoigne.com.au”>director@tossgascoigne.com.au href=”mailto:list@asc.asn.au”>list@asc.asn.au Wendy Parsons 10 Bromell Circuit Wanniassa ACT 2903

    02 62316342 0419 208 194

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