Scientific American Terminates Progressive Editor
Written by Chriss W. Street
Investigative journalist Paul Thacker, who focuses on exposing scientists’ fake research results, forced Scientific American Editor Laura Helmut to resign after protracted effort to expose her for political bias against conservatives and people of faith.
Ms. Helmuth, who was hired from the Washington Post in April 2020 to be Scientific American’s ninth editor-in-chief, seemed acontroversial move because of Helmuth’s strident on-line advocacy for combatting “misinformation through science journalism.”
Ensconced at the pinnacle of science reporting, Ms. Helmuth led Scientific American editorial staff to make their first political endorsement in 175 years by supporting Democrat Joe Biden for President in the Spring of 2020.
Scientific American published a special edition in October 2020 titled “Truth vs. Lies,” that stated it was their “responsibility to share what we know about our areas of expertise — health, science, the environment, education, technology — and what is at stake for them in this election.” The journal struck again in November on the eve of elections with another pro-Biden special edition titled: ‘Confronting Misinformation.’
Ms. Helmuth’s talking points over the next four years included: “there are not always two sides to every story.” For example evolution, “we don’t quote creationists.” As for the environment, “with climate change, you can disagree about what to do about [it], but the science of it is completely, comprehensively proven.”
Ms. Helmuth in 2024 stated: “I am committed to civil communication and editorial objectivity,” then led Scientific American to immediately endorsed Kamala Harris after President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance.
When Harris lost, Helmuth took to the extreme progressive social media site Bluesky
to call Gen X members —“f?$%ing fascists” and then chastisedall Americans that voted for Trump —“f#$k them to the moon and back.”
Here are some examples of the type of comments discovered by Paul Thacker:
Scientific American as a prestigious 179-year old publication, had enjoyed a stable circulation of around 300,000, including 240,000 print and digital copies, 22,000 digital-only copies, and 7 million online unique visitors per month.
But Helmuth’s hate and potty-mouth finally caused enough controversy that Scientific American forced her to resign. Helmuth posted on Bluesky: “I’ve decided to leave Scientific American after an exciting 4.5 years as editor in chief.” She added as a final snide remark: “I’m going to take some time to think about what comes next (and go birdwatching).”