On December 15, 1998, ABC World News Tonight aired a story introduced with the tag line "Milk Causes Cancer." This story contained numerous inaccuracies and false claims that were plainly refuted in materials provided to ABC News by Monsanto prior to the airing of this report. This information included reference materials from the American Cancer Society, The Food & Agriculture Organization of the U.N., The National Institute of Health, as well as other data that clearly demonstrated that milk from dairy cows using MonsantoÕs product Posilac® bovine somatotropin (BST) is exactly the same as milk from all other dairy cows, and that this milk does not cause cancer or any other health risks whatsoever (these materials are attached). Quite simply, the issues portrayed in ABCÕs report were misleading, and, prior to airing the story, ABC producers and reporters had information in their possession that demonstrated claims made in this report were false.

In addition, Monsanto agreed to an ABC News request to be interviewed on this subject, and then the interview offer was rescinded. The story was repeated on ABCÕs web site, again without any of the rebutting evidence. In all the conversations between Monsanto and ABC News representatives, never were we asked any questions regarding the safety or health issues raised in your report about our product.

In light of the manner in which this story was handled, Monsanto is requesting an on air correction by Mr. Jennings and written correction on ABCÕs web site including assessments from credible scientific organizations rebutting claims made on ABCÕs broadcast. Also, given the conduct of the reporters and producers involved, we request that ABC review these actions to determine if they meet the high journalistic standards of ABC News.

The chronology of events follows:

• ABC World News Tonight producer Susan Schwartz left a telephone message for MonsantoÕs Gary Barton on Monday afternoon, December 14th . That call was returned to Ms. SchwartzÕs voice mail within an hour. Later that afternoon, Mr. Barton called a second time, again getting Ms. SchwartzÕs voice mail. Finally, after 4:00 p.m., Mr. Barton called a third time and reached Ms. Schwartz. She was on another line and said she would return the call. She did not call back that evening.

• Tuesday, December 15th at 9:00 a.m. The Environmental Working Group, an environmental public interest group, hosted a news conference with former Tampa, Fla., FOX-TV reporters Jane Akre and Steve Wilson (who have a current law suit against FOX-TV alleging they were fired relating to a story they proposed on Posilac®), long-time BST opponents John Stauber (PR Watch), Michael Hanson (Consumers Union) and Andrew Kimbrell (Center for Technology Assessment).

• ABC Washington, D.C., affiliate Channel 7 sent a camera person to tape the event. No producer or reporter accompanied the camera person. Monsanto representatives provided the camera person with a contact sheet with both Washington and St. Louis contact information for MonsantoÕs response. Note: this press conference was also attended by reporters with Agence France Press, USA Today, InterPress, Pacifica News Service, Bloomberg and the Canadian Broadcasting Company. Monsanto provided interviews and the same information to those outlets. None of those outlets have reported this story with the same false claims that ABC reported in their broadcast.

• At 12:30 p.m. (EST) local ABC Washington, D.C., affiliate producer Candace Mays contacted MonsantoÕs Jay Byrne in Washington. Ms. Mays conducted a 30-minute telephone interview with Mr. Byrne and was provided with the background materials. Ms. Mays indicated that our information was valuable and compelling. Ms. Mays also asked if we were aware that ABC World News Tonight was planning on doing a "much larger" piece on this topic to ensure that we had also provided them with the same information.

• Also at 12:30 p.m. (EST) Ms. Schwartz returned Mr. BartonÕs call. She apologized for returning the call so late, indicating she had a medical appointment. Ms. Schwartz requested a Monsanto representative to be interviewed. Mr. Barton responded that he would need a little time to find an appropriate person and asked to call Ms. Schwartz back. During that call Mr. Barton provided some general background information and outlined the facts rebutting the safety and health allegations relating to our product. This information was unsolicited by Ms. Schwartz.

• Mr. Barton contacted Ms. SchwartzÕs voice mail 40 minutes later (at 1:10 p.m.) to confirm MonsantoÕs availability to be interviewed and to provide the location for the local camera crew. Monsanto arranged to have Dr. Robert Collier, director of research for MonsantoÕs dairy business, available for this interview.

• About 1:30 p.m. (EST) Ms. Schwartz returned that call. At this time Ms. Schwartz rescinded the interview offer claiming that she did not have a crew available. Mr. Barton then offered to bring Dr. Collier into the local ABC affiliate. This offer was also declined by Ms. Schwartz who then claimed that there was not enough time. Mr. Barton also offered to provide dairy producers from Illinois and Wisconsin for on-camera interviews. This offer was also declined. Mr. Barton then expressed his most extreme concern regarding, the fairness and objectivity of a report that would not present MonsantoÕs position in equal light to the allegations made. Mr. Barton also asked if there were any specific issues that ABC had, or that were to be addressed, to which Monsanto could provide rebuttal materials. She indicated that the only issue in which she was interested was which countries had approved the use of BST. Mr. Barton asked Ms. Schwartz for a fax number to which he could send her that information, in addition to materials rebutting the claims presented, which information he immediately transmitted.

• A few minutes following his conversation with Ms Schwartz, Mr. Barton was contacted by ABCÕs John McKenzie. Mr. McKenzie provided a separate fax number and said that he did not need a lot of background information. He said he was interested in information pertaining to which countries had approved Posilac®. Mr. McKenzie indicated that Mr. Barton could send the additional background materials, but that his priority was to receive the country approval information first. These materials were immediately transmitted at about 1:40 p.m. (EST).

We have noted in the attached transcript several of the errors and misstatements of fact in ABCÕs broadcast. We request your immediate response to our request as several other news outlets, including Reuters and The Village Voice, are repeating ABCÕs report based on the transcript and materials on your web site.

Sincerely,

Cheryl Morley President,
Monsanto Dairy Business