NFI Labels USA Today Seafood Report 'Unreliable, Alarmist'

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A front-page story in USA Today on fish consumption published earlier this fall contains numerous distortions and factual errors and should be considered unreliable, charged the National Fisheries Institute here.

The domestic seafood industry's leading trade association identified a dozen specific factual errors and other breaches in journalism standards relating to the article, which appeared Oct. 29, 2007, and in turn brought the issues to the attention of supervising Gannett News Service editors.

NFI said both USA Today and Gannett News Service have refused to provide a correction or even an explanation of what NFI said was erroneous reporting.

"When public health issues of this magnitude are being reported, journalism standards ought to be at their highest," said John Connelly, president of NFI. "Instead, Gannett News Service apparently violated their own policies on accuracy, sourcing and objectivity and it highly irresponsible that they refuse to set the record straight."

NFI said it will document its efforts to correct the errors and inaccuracies at its consumer Web site, (www.aboutseafood.com)
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