On 4/28/00 Barbara Davies from RDS wrote:
>The problem with this very
> respectable sounding group is that it represents a *very*
> small constituency - maybe only 150 members, few of whom
> are actual medics. It's just another anti-vivisection group in
> disguise. Readers should know where such groups were
> coming from - they would then find it easier to judge their
> messages. I think the quoted piece reads like irresponsible
> scaremongering.
and also wrote:
> Why don't journalists find out who these groups really represent?
I understand that RDS are a single-issue PR group whose single issue is to
promote animal experimentation (AE). They seem determined to suppress anyone
who opposes their view by hysterically accusing them of being animal
rightists. The openness and freedom of Science Communication might suffer if
single issue groups are allowed to dominate in this way. I expect Psi-com
members have already read the HL Select Committee Report 'Science and
Society' but to recite the RDS contribution and HL reply:
* 5.51 The Research Defence Society considers that what is needed is not
more dialogue, but more research into how public attitudes to science are
formed. In its view, "the scientific community cannot engage the public in
dialogue, but only pressure groups who are usually aligned against the issue
of concern" (p 382). We agree that this is a risk: those organising public
dialogue must see to it that single-issue groups do not monopolise
proceedings. But it need not be so; one of the impressive features of the
Consensus Conference on Nuclear Waste, as some of us can testify at first
hand, was how the voices of the pressure groups were moderated by other
voices and by the presence of independent observers, allowing less familiar
and more representative voices to come through.
Susan Green
[log in to unmask]
Education For Medical Advancement
(Understanding Animal Experimentation in Medical Research)
PO BOX 18653
LONDON NW3 4DG
Tel 020 7722 8934
Fax 020 7813 3670
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