In an investigative reporting collaboration with Lighthouse Reports and other international media partners, The New Lede reveals the inner workings of a vast international campaign orchestrated by pesticide industry proponents to downplay pesticide dangers, neutralize pesticide critics, and promote policies that benefit makers of pesticides and genetically engineered crops. Some of the work, including the creation of critical profiles of individuals the pesticide industry sees as opponents, was financed in part by US taxpayer dollars, according to documents unearthed in the investigation.
See our lead story: “Defend or be damned” – How a US company uses government funds to suppress pesticide opposition around the world
And our follow-up article: Profiling of pesticide industry opponents halted after company practices exposed
The collaborative Poison PR series won the One World Media Environmental Reporting Award in June 2025, and in August 2025 was shortlisted as one of 10 investigations for the Investigative Journalism for Europe awards.
Many of the documents were obtained by Lighthouse Reports through Freedom of Information requests. The New Lede is making many of these documents accessible here.
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