Biblical creationist group decries inclusion of its website on 'fake news' list
A Biblical creationist group is defending its reputability after it was included in the list of websites that were deemed to be sources of "false, misleading, clickbait-y, and/or satirical 'news.'"
Melissa Zimdars, an assistant professor of communication at Merrimack College, compiled the list of websites that were deemed to be disreputable after "fake news" became a subject of national discussion during the 2016 presidential election. The list was originally intended as a resource for her students, according to Christian News Network.
One of the sites included in the list is ICR.org, the website of Institute for Creation Research. The professor tagged the organization's website as "junk science," which she defined as "sources that promote pseudoscience, metaphysics, naturalistic fallacies, and other scientifically dubious claims."
In a blog post published last week, Brian Thomas, a science writer at ICR, indicated that the organization has already requested the removal of the website from the list.
In the initial request, the group stated that its news reports include contributions from scientists with terminal degrees from prestigious universities such as Harvard, Clemson, the University of Texas at Dallas and the University of North Carolina.
"Shouldn't those who kick ICR to the curb likewise consider these institutions as gutter dwellers? But they don't," Thomas wrote.
He also contested the "junk science" label and noted that the research on the organization's website has been published by secular sources.
"ICR.org contains thousands of science articles that painstakingly reference original technical science sources," he stated.
"For example, our report of an enzyme that locates DNA damage sites using an ingenious electrical current detector was not just junk. The journal Theoretical Biology & Medical Modeling published those research results," he continued.
Thomas also pointed to ICR's report on Psittacosaurus fossil from China with original skin and noted that the source research was published in Current Biology.
He pointed out that Harvard's journalism website has already removed the link to the document that contains the "fake news" list, and the university's library page merely added the words "informal list" to its link to the document.
Thomas contended that the professor included ICR on the list and labeled the group "junk" for "no known reason." He asserted that the group was included on the list because the scientists at the organization believe in the Bible. He further noted that the group does not hesitate to credit the Creator when it publishes its reports, including the ones about DNA repair enzymes and the preservation of short-lived tissues in dinosaur fossils.