Raccoon Dog Mediapalooza with Mike Balter

On March 17th, at least 17 major news outlets published a story claiming a group of scientists had analyzed new genetic data from Chinese and that data linked raccoon dogs at the Huanan Seafood Market to the origin of COVID-19. At best, it was journalistic misfeasance, at worst it was willful misdirection. At the time “raccoon dog mediapalooza” dominated the news cycle, there was no data, no preprint, nor peer reviewed paper available for independent examination of the scientist’s claims. “Raccoon dog mediapalooza” was based on “quotes” from “the usual suspects”; a cabal of virologists that have misstated, distorted, and/or overstated the evidence pointing to a natural spillover since the beginning of the pandemic. Today, I interview veteran journalist Mike Balter for the insider’s perspective of the mainstream media coverage of the investigation of the origin of COVID-19 since the beginning. Their over-reliance on “the usual suspects” a small group of virologists with clear self interest in the outcome of an investigation into the origin of COVID-19. Mike has been a working journalist for more than four decades and wrote for Science Magazine for 25 of those years. It’s a long interview but filled with many profound insights.

About Our Guest

Michael Balter has been a working journalist for more than 40 years. He began his career in Los Angeles, writing and reporting for nearly every local publication including the Los Angeles Times, L.A. Weekly, and Los Angeles Magazine. In 1991 he became the Paris correspondent for Science magazine, using his skills as a former science grad student at UCLA where he received his masters in biology. He also wrote for the Columbia Journalism Review (which he still does today) and was a regular contributor to the International Herald Tribune. In 2008 Balter began teaching journalism, first at Boston University, He returned to the US in 2017 and now lives in the Hudson Valley, where he works as an independent reporter, focusing on politics, science, and #MeToo reporting.

Contributor @Truthdig <https://twitter.com/truthdig>.

See also: michaelbalter.substack.com and michael-balter.blogspot.com