.
10/2/13,
"Liberal media huddles to re-hype global warming," Daily Caller, M. Bastasch
"The liberal media is scrambling to figure out if they are under-reporting the seriousness of global warming
.
Journalists from left-leaning news sites are meeting in Chattanooga,
Tenn., to discuss whether or not they have “blown it” when it comes to
global warming coverage and how they can better portray the seriousness
of the issue.
The Society of Environmental Journalists will be hosting a meeting on Friday that will discuss the media coverage surrounding global warming, which will include a panel of journalists from left-leaning news sites.
The panel will include:
Daniel Grossman, contributing editor, National Geographic News Watch;
Katherine Bagley with InsideClimate News; Peter Dykstra with
Environmental Health News and The Daily Climate; Joseph Romm with
ClimateProgress.org and the chief science editor of the Showtime TV
series, “Years of Living Dangerously.”
The description of the panel on global warming and the media reads:
“Have We Blown it? The impacts of global warming have been a concern
since about 1988. How well has the media done in reporting on this
issue? How can it do a better job in the future?”
“Many critics have accused mainstream media of confusing the public
by reporting this topic as if the small (and often industry-funded)
‘skeptics’ were as credible as researchers representing the scientific
consensus. This phony balance between real scientists and skeptics
appears less common now,” the event’s pamphlet reads. “But many people
say that
journalism
is still doing society a disservice, by under-reporting and downplaying
the seriousness of the threats of global warming. We’ll look for
lessons and advice from people who follow this issue closely.”
Global warming became a hot-button political issue again after President
Obama
unveiled his plan to curb U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, primarily by
capping carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants.
However, environmentalists and climate journalists have accused the
media of whitewashing the issue by not properly conveying the
seriousness of the problem and giving global warming “skeptics” air
time.
In April, environmental groups sent a letter to the heads of major
news networks, urging them to stop treating the issue as a “two-sided
debate” by giving skeptics air time.
.
“By bringing on climate-denying politicians and pundits, and giving
them as much ‘expert’ status as actual climate scientists, the networks
perpetuate the false debate that polluter-funded think tanks have
instigated to cast doubt on whether we should take action to address the
climate crisis at all,”
reads a
petition from the League of Conservation Voters aimed at the heads of nightly news programs for ABC, CBS and NBC.
The liberal media watchdog Media Matters claims that media outlets
have been not been reporting enough about global warming. According to a
study
by the group, those three major news outlets only aired a combined 12
segments on global warming in 2012 — a year that included heat waves,
droughts and Hurricane Sandy.
That could be because the American people aren’t very concerned about
global warming, as the economy repeatedly shows up in polls as their
biggest concern.
According to the Pew
Research
Center, only 28 percent of Americans thought stopping global warming
should be the president’s top priority in January, down slightly from 30
percent in 2009. Global warming was at the bottom of a list of 21
priorities for this year.
An August Rasmussen poll
found that only 35 percent of likely voters think that global warming is a very serious problem. Furthermore, a March Gallup poll
found that 64 percent of Americans don’t see global warming as a serious threat in their lifetime." (H/T) Tom Nelson
.
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