Earlier this week the science blogging community was enraged by ScienceBlogs' decision to launch a PepsiCo-sponsored nutrition blog. Shortly thereafter, Adam Bly, head of ScienceBlogs and its parent Seed Media Group, announced they were pulling the plug on Food Frontiers. Now, today, journalist Gaia Vince has published a blog entry in The Guardian recalling how Seed killed one of her stories because it was critical of a potential advertiser:
. . .I received an email from my editor asking for more columns and explaining that they wouldn't be publishing the Bhopal piece because it was critical of Dow Chemical, which now owns the company that caused the gas leak in 1984, and that Seed was seeking an advertising contract with Dow.
The email said:
We're not running the bhopal piece, and we're passing on the Maldive shark ban (a bit late now... Too bad it got caught up in prod week... ). As for Bhopal, it's a cautionary call on our part as we're in the midst of advertising negotiations with Dow (who have been inspired by Seed's photography in their own brand campaigns).
Previously: ScienceBlogs ends Pepsi-sponsored nutrition blog, ScienceBlogs head responds to criticism of Pepsi blog and ScienceBlogs adds Pepsi-sponsored nutrition blog
