Do Information Science and Media Professionals Have a Duty to Provide Evidence-Based Information to a Questioning Public?
This essay was originally published by the international journal, Information for Social Change. It has been republished here with permission from the author.
Abstract: While it is recognized that through the use of meta-analysis and randomized controlled trials the standard of excellence in evidenced-based medicine (EBM) stands alone on a pinnacle, there is nonetheless an evidence-based methodology that can be applied across the board in other decision-making areas. Though research into the events of 9/11 has not yet attained the rigor achieved by EBM, it is still possible to rank the research in this field according to evidence-based principles. This article explains the principles, points to sources that exemplify them, and argues the ethical obligation of librarians and journalists to advance those sources .
Nine-eleven has done more to change the world’s political landscape than any other event since World War II.
And 9/11 is far from over: it triggered what Western leaders have declared an “endless” or “generational” war on terror. Even President Obama stated in March 2009 that the Afghan-Pakistan border region “has become the most dangerous place in the world” for the American people.[1]
Increasingly, however, the official account of its cause has come under rigorous scientific scrutiny and doubt. In Europe, strong media coverage followed the unchallenged 2009 discovery of high-tech military explosives in the World Trade Center dust.[2]
Given the enormous international expense, suffering, and death that continue to hemorrhage from the wound of 9/11, it is vital that librarians and media professionals acquire the knowledge and ethical support to perform their part in addressing the rising tide of doubt.
1. Is there good reason to doubt the official account of 9/11?
Though the imagery of the events of September 11, 2001, is profoundly etched in the collective human memory, there is a growing body of scientific evidence suggesting that these events were not brought about in the manner described by The 9/11 Commission Report of 2004.[3]
Harper’s magazine referred to the Commission’s report as:
“a cheat and a fraud. It stands as a series of evasive maneuvers that infantilize the audience, transform candor into iniquity, and conceal realities that demand immediate inspection and confrontation.”[4]
The 9/11 Commissioners themselves reported the obstruction of their mandate by the C.I.A., in a New York Times editorial:
“What we do know is that government officials decided not to inform a lawfully constituted body, created by Congress and the president, to investigate one the greatest tragedies to confront this country. We call that obstruction.”[5]
Indeed a vast body of evidence refuting the official account has been compiled in the encyclopedic work The New Pearl Harbor Revisited, which was awarded Publishers Weekly’s “Pick of the Week” in November, 2008.[6]
Its author, Dr. David Ray Griffin, was nominated in 2008 and 2009 for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on 9/11.
Dr. Griffin is controversial in the press, however. In September 2009, the New Statesman cited him as number 41 of “The 50 People Who Matter Today,” complaining that his books had given “a sheen of respectability” to “one of the most pernicious global myths.”[7] The impact of the growing evidence – as revealed through 9/11 conferences, demonstrations, and public opinion polls – caused Guardian columnist George Monbiot to bemoan that “the anti-war movement has been largely co-opted in many places by the 9/11 Truth movement.”[8]
Though controversial, the persistent questions about the 9/11 Commission findings show that the matter is far from settled – indeed thousands of professional people are calling for a transparent re-investigation into 9/11, with full subpoena power.[9]
2. Why is it important that the events of 9/11 be properly understood?
The September 11th attacks have done more to shape world conflict in this century than any other event. More resources are being committed to the resulting “war on terror” than to the foundational issue of the survival of our eco-system. Additionally, the “war on terror” is being waged in the oil-rich Middle East, whose promise of vast oil supplies is delaying the development of alternative energy sources.
As we saw above, in the past year new scientific information has pointed strongly to the use of a high-tech military explosive (nanothermite) in the vertical free-fall collapses of the Twin Towers and Building 7. Many firefighters heard explosions in the basements, and nine years later, organized firefighters are strongly urging a new investigation.[10] The cell phone calls from the airliners are now seriously in doubt,[11] and it has recently been demonstrated that Osama bin Laden probably died in December 2001.[12] The FBI, in any case, offers no evidence for his responsibility in the attacks.[13] The two 9/11 Commission heads, and its senior counsel, have declared that the Commission was lied to.[14]
It is therefore imperative that the truth about 9/11 be established with certainty. It is urgent and essential that all professionals who convey information about 9/11 to the public be equipped with the best possible evidence, so that decision-making about our most pressing issues is based on sound knowledge.
3. Sound knowledge: What is evidence-based practice?
Evidence-based practice is a methodology for clinical medical practice whose application has expanded, since it first appeared in the early 1990’s, to guide professional decision-making in many other research-based fields.[15]
Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is “a way of providing health care that is guided by a thoughtful integration of the best available scientific knowledge with clinical expertise.”[16] It integrates three streams of evidence: patient reports, physician observations, and current research that is continually updated into clinical practice guidelines.
EBM offers the medical community a point-of-care gold standard of consensus on the diagnosis and treatment of each condition. Where it is readily available, there is no longer any reason why a physician should claim ignorance of the best available information in the treatment of his or her patients.
It’s about time.
An informative and accurate account for which we are indebted.
I have forwarded this concise and clearly written article to my 300-some Facebook friends, some of whom are journalists, and at least two of whom are librarians. THANK YOU!!
On September 11, 2001 America become the most dangerous place in the world for Americans because of The Patriot Act and other oppressive rules and laws enacted under the guise of protecting Americans from men living in caves in another continent.
Recently, the MIAC report gave the true reasons for these aggressive attacks against Americans and their freedoms. The National Security Strategy also told about a World plan that forces Americans to be the “policemen” of the world, under a world government that seeks to conquer national sovereignty with all countries with a stroke of pens on paper.
I do not believe men in cave did the destruction of 9/11 and the evidence has gathered to support that. Osama Bin Laden denied he did anything to cause that attack on America and he denied knowing anyone else who did it. He has not denied the things he takes credit for causing in the past. It seems things are going according to plan for the NWO. The Democrats took office to pass the tyrannical laws, so the Republicans will recover the majority in the government again. I think this has been the plan all along.
I fell in the South Tower, in a super strange out-of-body experiance on September 6, 2001. And a saw an orange dot, the size of a pinhead. I was falling hard (and my body was thousands of miles away in another city) and, at first I thought it was a volcano. Then when the dot enlongated I thought it was the lake of fire, but when it started coming up and I saw bumps rotating out of the middle, right then I knew it was a mushroom fireball and I was in some kind of tall building. I cannot explain why God let me be in the building AND in the future, but, perhaps, he wanted me to be able to tell others that some kind of hydrogen device, in addition to nano-thermites, and thermates, was used. I have told you all I know, and left out how dramatic and utterly terrifying it was.
I was Googling to find items about how the events of 9/11 are being taught as American history –which led me here, and to the book: “Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong — By James W. Loewen
In his chapters about 9/11 and the Iraq war, Loewen notes that textbooks, allegedly by different and distinguished teams of authors, deliver nearly identical, word-for-word accounts. Then he rhetorically wonders what happened to that other shoe dropping: lawsuits over plagiarism. –Hmmmnn.
“Lies My Teacher Told Me” is interesting for another reason. It ignited a wide range of reaction and reviews. You can Google up almost a thousand. Of the 99 that Amazon.com currently displays, and despite this book being bannered as having a controversial chapter about 9/11, only two reader-reviewers touched upon that (per my text search on “911” and “9/11”), and one of those slammed Loewen for his liberal-biased revisionism.
* Given the lethargy of the public (even among those few who still read more than cell phone text gibberish), and given the “3rd rail” nature of taking a contrarian view about 9/11 history –I’m here to tell you what an amazing job the 9/11 Truth Community has done –with such poor prospects. You have my admiration and respect.
And speaking of which: if we end up with any kind of realistic American history in the decades to come, you’ll all be recognized for your social and often professional courage. Thanks for being such precious exceptions.
How dreary will be the mainstream academic and professional hacks who toed the official line (du jour), and now have their names plastered all over it. They’ll wish to have been forgotten.
Craig
I forgot to include my specific “thank you” to Ms. Woodworth for her courage in speaking up, here and in her piece about the recent threat of official actions to undermine the 911 Truth community.
We have agencies like NIST who completed their investigation on the collapses of the 3 WTC buildings, they submitted a “final report” and then are refusing requests for their computer models and other information pertaining to the investigation, under the guise that “it might jeopardize the public safety.” HUH??
Why can a government agency assigned with the task of explaining to the public the reason for these unprecedented collapses refuse to show their work on the matter?
See attached letters from NIST.
http://cryptome.org/nist070709.pdf
http://cryptome.org/wtc-nist-wtc7-no.pdf
Mr Obama release the 85 unseen Pentagon 911 videos that Bush hid because they Incriminate Bush just like the missing 9 minutes of the Nixon tapes incriminate Nixon.
Mr Obama if you release the Pentagon 911 videos before the election the Republicans running that gave America Bush will lose.
The Democrats running will win by landslides.
Mr Obama if you release the Pentagon 911 videos before the election the Republicans running that gave America Bush will lose.
Mr Obama release the 85 unseen Pentagon 911 videos that Bush hid because they Incriminate Bush just like the missing 9 minutes of the Nixon tapes incriminate Nixon.
The Democrats running will win by landslides.
I am so thankful for the work you are doing.I have spread a word also and alot of my friends agree with me. I am speaking from scientific perspective like the physics of destruction and construction of those tree buildings, it really opens eyes. Much love and respect from Estonia!
Assisted me a lot, just what I was looking for : D.
Great work, Elizabeth. Congratulations!
Wishing you joy of the season from the Eastern Shore, MD
I really enjoyed your blog , I found it in Bing. I recently fell upona reallynifty pdf finder type site, it’s a pdf search engine and I think it is very interesting for people who like reading eboks
Superb piece. The media will latch on to any “controversy” (Coke vs Pepsi, Beatles vs Stones, Term vs Whole Life, etc…) unless it has some particular importance, more so if actual examination would go against predetermined conclusions.
Thank you for your excellent piece here, Ms. Woodworth.
And in answer to your subtitle question [Do Information Science and Media Professionals Have a Duty to Provide Evidence-Based Information to a Questioning Public?]
Yes!
Unfortunately, it seems too many of our Info-Sci & Media ‘professionals’ have been effectively co-opted by corporate/profit/power interests.
Is it worth losing your job–even your career–in order to attempt to expose some ‘truth’? And if you lose your job, how do you provide for your family?
We really need to provide & Fund alternative media & investigative reporters. Thanks to FPJ here & others working so hard to get good information out.