BIO Mary Nash Stoddard on Twitter

PRESENTING: MARY NASH STODDARD - Co-Founder of the massive international anti-aspartame movement in the mid 1980's, following the brain tumor death of her forty two year old husband, Mike. Ms. Stoddard suffered a life threatening aspartame-related blood disorder in 1985, whereupon, The NutraSweet Co. offered her an all-expense paid vacation for two anywhere in the world, if she would agree to be tested by their doctors. She declined, with the blessing of her doctor, and the rest is history. She has conducted multi-national lecture tours and is a popular visiting professor at colleges, universities and medical schools. "Deadly Deception - Story of Aspartame" is a toxicology sourcebook, edited by Ms. Stoddard, documenting the harmful effects of the world's most toxic artificial sweetener. The companion one hour "Deadly Deception" video is further documentation - taped at a prestigious scientific conference. Stoddard's efforts, over more than two decades, led to the present rejection of the sweetener by many of the food and beverage giants of industry, as they rush to distance themselves from the liabilities associated with use of a neuro-toxic substance in their products. She has testified in court as an Expert Medical Witness and like her counterpart, Erin Brokovitch, helped with a number of lawsuits on behalf of consumers. Her powerful message has reached millions around the world through the airwaves on radio and television, in print and through popular personal appearances. Honors, Awards, Societies: • Expert Medical Witness [1992-present] * Guest Presenter Gulf War Veterans Annual Conference - [Las Vegas 1999] * Visiting Professor: U. T. Southwestern Medical School [1997] * Visiting Professor: American University School of Journalism [1999] * Visiting Professor: University of North Texas at Denton Dept. of Science [1990 and 2005] • Visiting Professor: University of Houston Bioneers Conference [2006] * Invited speaker: Hebrew Univ. Jerusalem - [1997] * Keynote speech: Mexican Government's Annual Conference on Sweeteners [1999] * Appointed Judge - State of Texas [1977-1984] * Broadcast Journalist - [1965-present] * President's Council on Food Safety - [1998-1999] * International Lecture Tours - [1996-present] * Testimony Senate Committee Hearing on Safety of Aspartame - Washington [1987] * Panelist at National News Conference Announcing Dr. John Olney's Brain Tumor/Aspartame Connection - Washington D.C. [1998] * Inducted Member Texas Radio Hall of Fame [2002-present] Representative of the Texas Rice Growers Association [Miss Rice] Board member: Irving Symphony Orchestra Board Member: Irving Community Theater Founding Board Member Radio Station KNON [public radio], Dallas Charter member City of Dallas Citizens Safety Committee Board Member Dallas Mayor’s Fee Task Force Vice President Operation Get Involved, [liaison committee of the D.P.D.] Board member Dallas Homeowners League President Save Open Space Texas Steering Committee Presidential Election Award for Public Service - Mexican Government State of Texas Board of Adjustment

Wednesday, March 27, 2013



MONSANTO MASTERS OF ART OF INTIMIDATION
(Taken From 3-Decade History of Media Intimidation Cases Resulting in Last Minute Cancellation of BREAKING SWEETENER NEWS STORY)


FOX PULLS PLUG ON DISCUSSION

OF ANOTHER MONSANTO PRODUCT
By STEVE WILSON
TAMPA (September 8, 1998)--The same Fox Television station under fire for it's handling of investigative reports about Monsanto's bovine growth hormone has abruptly cancelled another planned broadcast producers feared would be critical of the giant chemical company.
Mary Nash Stoddard, a leading critic of aspartame chemical sweeteners such as Monsanto-made NutraSweet, was informed less than two hours before her scheduled appearance on WTVT that the discussion had been cancelled on orders of station lawyers and management.
Apparently, while viewers who called the station were being told the promoted segment was cancelled "for technical reasons," Stoddard says producer Angela Schultz actually gave her a much different reason.
Stoddard says she was told Fox legal people got involved "because Fox was having problems with Monsanto." She quotes the apologetic producer as telling her that the station "tried to do a story about BGH, another Monsanto product, and we had problems we don't want any more problems with Monsanto."
The BGH Bulletin has independently confirmed Stoddard's account with sources close to the situation on the condition they not be identified. A Fox producer and attorney have denied Stoddard's account and claim the long-scheduled segment was cancelled only because the station had not arranged anyone to present an opposing view on the same broadcast.
This reporter, one of the plaintiffs in a pending civil suit against Fox, instructed his attorneys to prepare and serve subpoenas on Fox personnel involved in the incident, saying "We believe the testimony will show this same broadcasting company which ordered us to slant the news and even lie on television, frequently selects stories and shapes its broadcasts based on its own interests and not the public interests as viewers as a right to expect."
The sweetener discussion was booked and confirmed by Fox weeks earlier. It was to be aired live September 8 on the station's mid-day news broadcast as part of anchorwoman Kathy Fountain's regular Your Turn feature. It had been promoted to viewers and it was not until the day of air that there was any sign of trouble.
Realizing the likelihood that Stoddard's comments would include troubling long-term, human health questions which have not been resolved in years since Monsanto's NutraSweet was approved, Fox officials decided to pull the plug.
Stoddard is head of the Dallas-based Aspartame Consumer Safety Network. She has written a book about serious human health problems allegedly caused by NutraSweet and other chemical sweeteners. She cites scientists and critics of the product who have linked it to seizures, including blackouts by pilots in the cockpits of commercial jetliners.
The activist says she was told by the producer who called her that newsroom colleagues argued for nearly an hour to get approval to air the interview because it concerns an important public health issue but station officials refused to allow the segment to proceed after Monsanto's involvement was discovered.
Fountain's Your Turn segments are not formatted as a debate. Guests are usually invited to express their views without another guest appearing on the same show to defend a company or express and opposing view. Stoddard says producers never mentioned any concern about a lack of balance, nor did they mention anything about any desire to re-schedule her appearance for a future date.
WTVT and its owner, Fox Television, are currently fighting a lawsuit filed earlier this year by this reporter and reporter Jane Akre who charge they were fired by Fox for refusing orders to broadcast false and misleading stories about Monsanto's synthetic bovine growth hormone, a product which has been linked to cancer.
According to the complaint filed by the veteran journalists, their investigative reports about BGH had been well promoted and also scheduled to air until Fox News chief Roger Ailes received a letter from a Monsanto attorney and the story was pulled on the virtual eve of the broadcast.
What followed, the suit alleges, was a nearly year-long battle between Fox lawyers and management and the reporters who say they were ethically obligated to refused orders to broadcast information they knew and documented to be false and misleading.
After at least 73 re-writes of the BGH scripts, a period of suspension, being locked out of the station and its computers where the reporters kept some of their BGH research, Fox fired both its WTVT investigative journalists December 2, 1997. They responded with their suit April 2, 1998. Fox has categorically denied the allegations and a February 22, 1999 trial date has been set in Florida state court in Tampa.


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