EXCLUSIVE: UPDATE:
After repeated stonewalling, City University London has now ADMITTED in a statement that Connie St. Louis “Science Journalism” course was so unpopular it had to shut down.
Their statement reads:
City provides a large number of professionally-relevant Masters programmes. Whether they run in a particular year depends on demand. The Science Journalism MA programme has been suspended for the 2016/17 academic year following a decline in student enrolments. Students will be able to take an elective module in science and health journalism as part of another journalism Masters course.
University journalism lecturer and (alleged) journalist, Connie St. Louis, has had her postgraduate course at City University in London axed, with her teaching hours slashed, Heat Street has established.
St. Louis is, however, still presenting herself as the director of a non-existent course – following many similar ’embellishments’ of her CV.
Last year, St. Louis falsely accused Nobel Prize-winning scientist Sir Tim Hunt of making serious, sexist remarks at a conference for women in South Korea.
While giving a toast at the conference, Hunt joked: “It’s strange that such a chauvinist monster like me has been asked to speak to women scientists. Let me tell you about my trouble with girls. Three things happen when they are in the lab: you fall in love with them, they fall in love with you, and when you criticise them they cry. Perhaps we should make separate labs for boys and girls? Now, seriously, I’m impressed by the economic development of Korea. And women scientists played, without doubt an important role in it. Science needs women, and you should do science, despite all the obstacles, and despite monsters like me.”
St Louis was later found to have quoted Hunt selectively, but by falsely claiming his words were misogynist she triggered a worldwide debate and ultimately derailed his career. Among her many lies were that Hunt had gone ‘on and on’, when he joked for two minutes, that he sat down to a ‘deathly silence’ when there was applause and laughter, and that a lunch that finished normally five minutes later was ‘ruined’. St. Louis also lied to other journalists stating that Tim Hunt had refused to answer her questions during a later session he was not present at; she confused him with a Wall Street Journal reporter and never apologised for this lie.
Futhermore, St. Louis and her co-conspirators Ivan Oransky and Deborah Blum failed to report that the exact same people who had hosted the lunch invited Sir Tim Hunt to open the WCSJ that very night. Sir Tim’s persecutor Deborah Blum happily shared the stage with him the evening after the uneventful lunch, and the WCSJ’s head of PR was photographed clapping him enthusiastically.
St. Louis then attended a two hour reception with Sir Tim Hunt during which time she never put any of her false allegations to him.
The BBC apologised to Louise Mensch and to Mary Collins and Tim Hunt for putting the words of the Today Show’s presenter in Hunt’s mouth. They also admitted that their understanding of Connie St. Louis basic credibility had ‘evolved’ as the scandal of her gross misresporting grew.
Incorrect and misleading quotes weren’t the only problem for the university lecturer.
The Daily Mail ‘s superb investigative journalist, Guy Adams, had a look at her CV and exposed outright lies and fabrications in her alleged experience as a journalist.
Now it appears St Louis’ misfired crusade against a pioneering scientist is coming back to haunt her.
City University in London, where she used to be the MA director in Science Journalism, appears to have dropped her course, according to a timetable seen by Heat Street – the only one in the university’s journalism department to apparently suffer this fate.
As a result she will have plenty more free time to play with: the university seems to have given her only one 2 hour-long class to teach every week for two months.
Compare that to last year, when St. Louis taught a class every week throughout the year in addition to being a director of the course in science journalism.
The picture above shows her working hours this year – the three screen shots below, which are from previous academic year, appear to show a significant decrease in working hours this year. All hours are accessible online.
Despite what would be a massive demotion from her previous role at the university, St. Louis still presents herself as a “Director of MA in Science Journalism” both on Twitter and LinkedIn accounts.
But is this really accurate?
Heat Street has attempted to contact Connie St. Louis and we await her response with unbaited breath.
