Difference between revisions of "Roger Scruton"
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| − | '''Roger Scruton''' is a British conservative philosopher well known for publishing articles critical of tobacco control efforts in major newspapers like the ''Wall Street Journal'' and the London ''Financial Times''.(1,2,3) Typical was an article he authored in the February 9, 1998 issue of the Wall Street Journal entitled “Anything Goes--Except Smoking,” in which he portrayed government efforts to decrease smoking as a waste of time. Scruton dismissed such efforts as part of the “hysteria of modern life.” A biographical line at the end of the article described Scruton only as “a philosopher living in England,”(1) without disclosing that he was on the payroll of [[Japan Tobacco, Inc.]]<br> | + | '''Roger Scruton''' is a British conservative philosopher well known for publishing articles critical of tobacco control efforts in major newspapers like the ''Wall Street Journal'' and the London ''Financial Times''.(1,2,3) Typical was an article he authored in the February 9, 1998 issue of the ''Wall Street Journal'' entitled “Anything Goes--Except Smoking,” in which he portrayed government efforts to decrease smoking as a waste of time. Scruton dismissed such efforts as part of the “hysteria of modern life.” A biographical line at the end of the article described Scruton only as “a philosopher living in England,”(1) without disclosing that he was actually on the payroll of a major tobacco company, [[Japan Tobacco, Inc.]]<br> |
In 2002 Scruton authored a 60-page pamphlet attacking the World Health Organization (WHO) entitled ''WHO, WHAT and WHY: Transnational Government, Legitimacy and the World Health Organization'', (D) published by The Institute of Economic Affairs in London, a free-market think tank. In the pamphlet, Scruton belittled the WHO’s tobacco control efforts and portrayed WHO as trying to “impose the social and political agenda of a handful of activists” upon the rest of the world. Advancing arguments the tobacco industry and its allies had made for years, Scruton said WHO should be concentrating on vaccination campaigns and controlling communicable diseases like HIV/AIDS and malaria rather than being concerned about smoking. The description of Scruton at the beginning of the pamphlet said only that he was a British philosopher who had held professorships in London and Boston, and a freelance writer who had published several books.(4) In 2002 the newspaper U.K. Guardian obtained an email that revealed Scruton had been receiving monthly payments from Japan Tobacco, Inc. (JTI) to write and place articles critical of tobacco control efforts in major newspapers, and to write the pamphlet criticizing the WHO’s tobacco control campaigns.(5,6) Scruton sent the email to Japan Tobacco under the name of his wife and business partner, Sophie. In it, Scruton offered to use his media contacts to “place [a pro-tobacco article] article every two months in one or the other of the WSJ [''Wall Street Journal''], the ''Times'', the ''Telegraph'', the ''Spectator'', the ''Financial Times'', the ''Economist'', the ''Independent'', or the ''New Statesman''.” The Guardian revealed that Scruton had been receiving £4,400 (US$6,300) a month from Japan Tobacco and that he had asked Japan Tobacco for a pay increase of £1,000/month to continue placing pro-smoking articles in prestigious magazines and international newspapers. In the email, Scruton suggested to JTI further strategies he could use to criticize the WHO: | In 2002 Scruton authored a 60-page pamphlet attacking the World Health Organization (WHO) entitled ''WHO, WHAT and WHY: Transnational Government, Legitimacy and the World Health Organization'', (D) published by The Institute of Economic Affairs in London, a free-market think tank. In the pamphlet, Scruton belittled the WHO’s tobacco control efforts and portrayed WHO as trying to “impose the social and political agenda of a handful of activists” upon the rest of the world. Advancing arguments the tobacco industry and its allies had made for years, Scruton said WHO should be concentrating on vaccination campaigns and controlling communicable diseases like HIV/AIDS and malaria rather than being concerned about smoking. The description of Scruton at the beginning of the pamphlet said only that he was a British philosopher who had held professorships in London and Boston, and a freelance writer who had published several books.(4) In 2002 the newspaper U.K. Guardian obtained an email that revealed Scruton had been receiving monthly payments from Japan Tobacco, Inc. (JTI) to write and place articles critical of tobacco control efforts in major newspapers, and to write the pamphlet criticizing the WHO’s tobacco control campaigns.(5,6) Scruton sent the email to Japan Tobacco under the name of his wife and business partner, Sophie. In it, Scruton offered to use his media contacts to “place [a pro-tobacco article] article every two months in one or the other of the WSJ [''Wall Street Journal''], the ''Times'', the ''Telegraph'', the ''Spectator'', the ''Financial Times'', the ''Economist'', the ''Independent'', or the ''New Statesman''.” The Guardian revealed that Scruton had been receiving £4,400 (US$6,300) a month from Japan Tobacco and that he had asked Japan Tobacco for a pay increase of £1,000/month to continue placing pro-smoking articles in prestigious magazines and international newspapers. In the email, Scruton suggested to JTI further strategies he could use to criticize the WHO: | ||
Revision as of 18:16, 15 November 2006
Roger Scruton is a British conservative philosopher well known for publishing articles critical of tobacco control efforts in major newspapers like the Wall Street Journal and the London Financial Times.(1,2,3) Typical was an article he authored in the February 9, 1998 issue of the Wall Street Journal entitled “Anything Goes--Except Smoking,” in which he portrayed government efforts to decrease smoking as a waste of time. Scruton dismissed such efforts as part of the “hysteria of modern life.” A biographical line at the end of the article described Scruton only as “a philosopher living in England,”(1) without disclosing that he was actually on the payroll of a major tobacco company, Japan Tobacco, Inc.
In 2002 Scruton authored a 60-page pamphlet attacking the World Health Organization (WHO) entitled WHO, WHAT and WHY: Transnational Government, Legitimacy and the World Health Organization, (D) published by The Institute of Economic Affairs in London, a free-market think tank. In the pamphlet, Scruton belittled the WHO’s tobacco control efforts and portrayed WHO as trying to “impose the social and political agenda of a handful of activists” upon the rest of the world. Advancing arguments the tobacco industry and its allies had made for years, Scruton said WHO should be concentrating on vaccination campaigns and controlling communicable diseases like HIV/AIDS and malaria rather than being concerned about smoking. The description of Scruton at the beginning of the pamphlet said only that he was a British philosopher who had held professorships in London and Boston, and a freelance writer who had published several books.(4) In 2002 the newspaper U.K. Guardian obtained an email that revealed Scruton had been receiving monthly payments from Japan Tobacco, Inc. (JTI) to write and place articles critical of tobacco control efforts in major newspapers, and to write the pamphlet criticizing the WHO’s tobacco control campaigns.(5,6) Scruton sent the email to Japan Tobacco under the name of his wife and business partner, Sophie. In it, Scruton offered to use his media contacts to “place [a pro-tobacco article] article every two months in one or the other of the WSJ [Wall Street Journal], the Times, the Telegraph, the Spectator, the Financial Times, the Economist, the Independent, or the New Statesman.” The Guardian revealed that Scruton had been receiving £4,400 (US$6,300) a month from Japan Tobacco and that he had asked Japan Tobacco for a pay increase of £1,000/month to continue placing pro-smoking articles in prestigious magazines and international newspapers. In the email, Scruton suggested to JTI further strategies he could use to criticize the WHO:
I personally would like to see more explicit mention of other products open to the same criticisms as tobacco and which ought to be of equal concern to the WHO. For example, fast-food of the McDonald’s variety, which seems to be addictive, is aimed at the young, is a serious risk to health, with a worse effect on life-expectancy than cigarettes, has a seriously corrosive effect on social relations and family life.36 JTI made payments to Scruton through “Horsell’s Farm Enterprises,” the consultancy Scruton ran with his wife from their farm house in rural Wiltshire, England.(5)
After the Guardian revealed the email, the Financial Times dismissed Scruton from his job as a regular columnist for failing to declare his monthly retainer from Japan Tobacco. Andrew Gowers, the editor of Financial Times, confirmed that Scruton had failed to inform the paper that he had been receiving an annual total of £54,000 (US$77,200) a year from Japan Tobacco.(5) Scruton also lost his job as a commentator with the Wall Street Journal due to this episode.(6) When the Guardian asked Scruton about the leaked email, he said, "The whole thing is quite immoral - the stealing of private correspondence and making it public."(7)
As of November 2006, Roger Scruton’s extensive curriculum vitae (posted on his personal web site at http://www.rogerscruton.com/rs-cv.html) contained no mention of his past affiliations with Japan Tobacco.
References
1.A. Scruton R. Anything goes—except smoking. Wall Street Journal 1998 9 Feb;Sect. A18.
2.B. Scruton R. A Snort of Derision at Society. London Times. 1998 19 Oct; Sect. [1]
3.C. RJR International. RJRI News Report Tuesday, Feb. 3, 1998 (19980203). 3 Feb 1998. RJ Reynolds. Bates No. 530540887/0901. [2] Compilation of news reports. Scruton's article, "A Mad World is Assaulting Us Smokers" at page -0893. (Accessed 07 Dec 2005)
4.D. Scruton R. WHO, WHAT and WHY?: Transnational government, legitimacy and the World Health Organization,. London: The Institution of Economic Affairs; 2001.
5.E. Maguire K. Scruton faces sack from FT over tobacco retainers. UK Guardian 2002 Jan. 25.
6.F. Maguire K., Borger J. Scruton in media plot to push the sale of cigarettes. UK Guardian 2002 Thursday, Jan. 4.
7. Allison R. Wall Street Journal drops Scruton over tobacco cash. U.K. Guardian 2002 Feb. 5.
