After reading an example of bad journalism on Forbes, Professor Giuseppe Pulina reminds us that giving way to prejudices is the worst sin a journalist can commit.

Suppose an example of bad journalism is to be studied in journalism schools. In that case, it is the Forbes article by Jeff MacMahon because the vegan propaganda that has polluted the editorial offices of many newspapers fails to convince the public to change their diets drastically by eliminating meat and dairy in favour of plant-based products, our journalist resorts to “science”.

According to him, the international scientific community is unequivocally convinced of the damage caused to the environment by a diet based on animal products, and those who say otherwise are either not concerned with this issue or, worse, are in the pay of the meat and dairy industries. And journalists who listen to this part of scientists that are, according to our author, “either not competent or hired” are bad journalists because they deny evidence now established by science.

It is very sad to see that when one has no arguments uses the old weapons of rhetoric to denigrate those who say things contrary to one’s prejudices to delegitimize them. Let our reporter know that about one million scholars are involved in agri-food research, and a considerable proportion of them are Animal scientists who are the most knowledgeable to speak on this subject.

Finally, a relevant share of research supports that moderate consumption of animal products is essential for proper nutrition, and an equally relevant share of research shows that animal farms are far from being the most significant cause of climate change. If our journalist would study more, as his colleagues denigrated in the article, perhaps he would realize that giving way to prejudices is the worst sin a person doing his job can commit.