Merchants Of Doubt

Robert Kenner (2014, U.S., 93 min.) + post-film discussion

The U.S. scientific community has long led the world in research on public health, environmental science, and other issues affecting the quality of life. Through dispassionate, impartial, peer-reviewed processes, these scientists have produced landmark studies uncovering hidden threats to human life and the planet, from DDT to tobacco smoke to acid rain to global climate change. But the deliberativeness that is the hallmark of good science also leaves it vulnerable to another group of actors — merchants of doubt.

Communications about science take place in the same channels as other forms of communication — channels where colorful anecdotes, slick sales pitches, and loud emotions win out over reason, data, and subtle nuance. As documented in Naomi Oreskes’ book and Robert Kenner’s documentary of the same name, Merchants of Doubt reveals decades-long practices of corporations hiring people who seem to have the scientific credentials but who are willing to be hired guns peddling scientific misinformation and doubt in order to prevent public regulation and oversight of the industry’s products. Putting corporate profits above public good, these hucksters follow a standard playbook to great effect and in the process sway the public’s understanding of how much scientists actually know.

Is it hopeless? The deck may be stacked against them, but scientists and politicians are trying to find ways to communicate better and to organize against the devaluing of their painstaking work. Is something better possible? Join us for this pulse-pounding look at scientific debates, every bit as relevant today as when the film first premiered over a decade ago.

This screening is part of the year-long series Our Common Purpose, celebrating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and examining where we’ve been and where we might be going as a nation, as we try to reaffirm society’s commitment to truth, justice for all, and a commitment to a collective future that benefits everyone. Our Common Purpose is co-presented by Sustain Penn State, the College of Liberal Arts, the McCourtney Institute for Democracy, the Bellisario College of Communications, and others.

Following the screening there was a panel discussion examining the state of science in our public discourse and policymaking today and how we can address issues of disinformation and science literacy. The panel included: 

• Eli Andrews, Adjunct Instructor of Management and Organization and CEO and founder of civicIQ
• Matt Jordan, Professor and Chair of the Department of Film Production and Media Studies, Penn State
• Janet Swim, Professor of Psychology and Associate Director of the Climate Consortium, Penn State