Experts, readers speak out against unfounded reports of US media on lab leak hypothesis

BEIJING - Against the evidence-free reports of some US media outlets on the Wuhan lab leak hypothesis, many experts and readers have spoken out, noting that the press coverage has only created a diversion from the real problems in the United States and chipped away at the media's credibility.

In a June 23 article on The Conversation, an online media outlet that publishes news stories and articles written by academics and researchers, Keith Grehan and Natalie Kingston of the University of Leeds said, "While a natural origin seems likely -- and many have long warned about the danger of wildlife circulating viruses -- scientists shouldn't jump to conclusions."

Noting a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report about the hypothesis, the researchers added, "The origin of Sars-CoV-2 may remain unresolved, but there is no evidence presented in the WSJ piece that scientifically supports the concept of a lab leak of a genetically engineered virus."

FAIR, a US media watch group, on Monday bashed the unfounded reporting. It is certainly true that people like former US President Donald Trump and former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo "are notorious for being shameless liars, and blatantly promoted the lab leak theory in a cynical attempt to scapegoat China for the US's disastrous handling of the pandemic," it said.

"Besides relying on unnamed officials," FAIR added, "another issue with the Journal report is that its lead author, Michael R. Gordon, co-authored (with Judith Miller) the notorious New York Times report ... that was perhaps the single piece of journalism most responsible for deceiving the nation about Saddam Hussein's imaginary weapons of mass destruction."

Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs of Columbia University published a commentary on the Project Syndicate on June 22, mentioning that the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has not yet revealed the actual research that it has financed and supported.

"It is in fact common knowledge in the US scientific community that NIH has indeed supported genetic recombinant research on SARS-like viruses that many scientists describe as GOFROC," the professor pointed out.

Added to this, the poor performance of the media and politicians has also let readers down. In a letter published Tuesday to the San Francisco Chronicle, a reader said, "In general, the treatment of the origins of COVID-19 by politicians and polemicists has ignored or distorted the science to the point of embarrassment for an advanced nation."

"Let us call on our politicians to end the China bashing and negotiate a framework for a peaceful and prosperous world," the reader said.