Monsanto’s Started a Blog: Conversation with Critics, or the Same Old PR?
Yesterday’s Post-Dispatch had a story on the front page of the Business section that immediately caught my eye: St. Louis-based agribiz giant Monsanto has started blogging (and Twittering and YouTube-ing).
That’s right: Monsanto, the company many of us in the sustainability sphere love to hate, has entered the conversation.
That, on the surface, is a good thing.
Of course, the devil’s in the details. As occasional contributor Max Gladwell pointed out in “10 Ways that Social Media and Sustainability Line Up,” social media can provide a high return on investment for a business… provided its efforts are grounded in transparency. I’d add that such efforts must also be based in a genuine desire to interact: social media is conversation, and all parties have to both talk and listen. Without these elements, a corporate blog will strike its intended audience as just another effort at message control.
Monsanto’s blog also seems to validate another of Max’s points: much of the content so far has consisted of responses to grassroots criticisms of the company ventures into biotechnology, particularly genetic engineering of crop seeds. As blogger and public affairs manager John Combest told the P-D, “”There was this big conversation going on (on the Internet), and we weren’t a part of it.”
So, how’s the company doing in its initial forray into the blogosphere?
At this point, I’d argue they still have a lot to learn.
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Yes, they’re new to this, and I’m not sure there’s any way to learn how to blog well other than on-the-job training. As such, they’ll make plenty of mistakes early on.
I’m more concerned, though, about the overall tone I’m seeing in the blog. It’s difficult to get a real conversation (versus a shouting match) going if you tend to dismiss your critics. And there’s an awful lot of that so far. Take these passages from the “Why a Monsanto Blog?” page:
The title Monsanto According to Monsanto is a spoof of The World According to Monsanto, a horribly biased documentary which portrays Monsanto in a very negative light. Aside from the shoddy journalism, we at Monsanto found it incredibly arrogant that the filmmaker would present her own twisted view of Monsanto as the company’s view of the world… (my link added for the film)
Monsanto has a fair number of critics. Technology in agriculture is an emotional topic and there are organizations or individuals who generally oppose modern agriculture or biotechnology. This blog will be used on a rather frequent basis to respond to criticism leveled against Monsanto and the use of technology in agriculture.
Here’s another example from “Indian Farmer Suicide — The Bottom Line“:
[Biotech] cotton is making life better in India. Unfortunately, critics of biotech do not like these favorable statistics or news reports, so they rely on baseless smear campaigns to create a visceral reaction in those who are unfamiliar with the facts. Debt is the reason for Indian farmer suicide–but the economic benefits from Bt cotton may be the key to reversing the tragic statistics.
Monsanto’s blogger could certainly argue that this is tone critics have take with the company. To a large degree, they’re right. But, at this point in my search of their archives, I have yet to see any effort to acknowledge critics who are informed on the science of biotechnology, and still don’t like the company’s activities. There are plenty of them out there…
A couple of other notes: According to the P-D article, any employee at Monsanto can contribute to the blog, and they’re encouraged to do so. So far, though, the only posts have come from the dedicated blog team, all of whom are members of the public affairs department. Secondly, the “Why a Monsanto Blog?” page claims that the company will use this venue to “to levy some criticism ourselves” (which I assume means criticism of the company… though it doesn’t specifically say that). If I’m interpreting that right, I have yet to see any efforts on this front. But they’ve definitely taken plenty of shots at critics (which is what they may have meant).
This is a very new effort, so I don’t want to be too critical: Monsanto is making an effort here. At this point, though, this effort feels very much like typical corporate communications in a more conversational voice. If that turns out to be the sum total of their blogging efforts, I doubt they’ll see much ROI on it. If they’re genuinely willing to listen to informed criticism, and to get decision-makers into the mix of bloggers, this could represent a substantive step forward.
The blogosphere’s a messy marketplace of ideas; corporations, however, value message control. A few companies have done well entering the social media space. They jury’s still out on Monsanto (as it should be)… we’ll want to keep a close eye on their efforts, though.
I’m inclined to say “Just More PR,” but this is definitely something to keep an eye on. If they are honest and self-critical, I guess it could signal a move in the right direction? I’m not optimistic that it’s going to be that way, though.
I, for one, would love to throw some virtual, rotten, genetically modified tomatoes at them.
They are whining, not blogging, and I think I just made up a new word - “Whog”!
I think the problem a company like Monsanto would face is the fact that they make many immoral decisions, and can not afford to admit it. How can they then even attempt an honest blog. It is impossible until they truly acknowledge the dangers of toxic chemicals. But, it is not currently profitable for them to do so, and may never be. I would not pay much attention to them, but would focus on alternative companies providing agriculture ideas that really help the planet, and that are designed with that mission in mind from the “ground” up.
Biotechnology is another one of those fences that people choose to straddle. Greens are largely anti-biotech when it comes to farming and livestock production. However, most are in favor of human, embryonic stem cell research, which coincidentally also falls under the umbrella of biotechnology. Why in the minds of most greens is it okay to practice biotech on the human species, but not on lower animals and plants?
To be fair, I will admit that my beliefs relegate a one-sided opinion on this. I hold human life in high esteem and do not agree with embryonic stem cell research. However, all other plants and animals are fair game.
Ah, Bobby… were it only that simple…
Of course, you’re talking about two different sub-disciplines of biotechnology: agricultural biotech and medical biotech. The concerns with agricultural biotech aren’t limited to putting plants and animals above humans. First, many worry about potential health threats posed by genetically-modified organisms (and, in fairness, Monsanto has addressed that on its blog — I’ll leave it to other with more expertise to judge their response). There are also larger ecosystem concerns: what happens when those modified genes get into the larger gene pool? What happens when they interact with other species in an ecosystem? These are valid questions, and definitely can affect human life.
On embryonic stem cell research: can you show me a form of this research that’s not focused on improving human life? I won’t belittle your beliefs about when life starts, but the moral arguments are hardly one-sided here… We may eventually discover that other sources of stem cells are just as useful as embryonic stem cells — I hope that happens, as it would be the best situation for all. Until then, do you want to be the one to tell people suffering from Parkinson’s, spinal cord injuries, etc., that your beliefs about life beginning at conception are more important than research that could alleviate their suffering to some degree? How does that square with “holding human life in high esteem?”
(Glad you’re here, bud… need someone to keep me on my toes!)
I agree, we need to be vigilant of this. at least they are doing something, let hope is for the better.
Jeff, responding to your response will take more time and effort than I have this morning, but I will try to do so before the week ends.
This morning I saw a 40 minute YouTube video about Monsanto. They are pigs.
In fact, the video is called “Patent for a Pig”, and it describes how Monsanto, while busily locking up the farmland so that only its soy, corn, and other crops can be grown, is now moving to patent pig genes. Their clearly stated goal is to dominate food production world-wide. Won’t governments come around and stand up to them. As an American, I certainly hope the USA will do so, as we started this mess allowing Monsanto to control neighboring farmers when the wind blew some genetically modified seeds in from neighboring farms. Ridiculous!
same old pr
Very interesting. I think the reason Monsanto takes the stance they are taking by dismissing the bloggers is that they are so far off base on some of their criticisms and facts, that they have no credibility. One such example always talks about we (Monsanto) put farmers out of business by suing them and making a lot of money doing it. This person quoted that we made $160,000,000 one year suing farmers and it is so ridiculous, it is is not even close.