Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

The Empty Press Room - How Corporate Journalism Happily Lost Interest in Climate Change

Medialens | 26.01.2011 22:47 | Analysis | Sheffield | World

In the media’s coverage of climate change, are we really still stuck on square one of some ghastly board game?


Global warming was recognised as a hugely serious problem as far back as 1988 when the United Nations set up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Since then the science has become more solid, more detailed, in fact irrefutable: the risk of dangerous climate change has risen alarmingly, and the corporate media has continued to bury serious debate on what to do about it. According to NASA researchers at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York, global surface temperatures in 2010 tied with 2005 as the warmest on record.

‘If the warming trend continues, as is expected, if greenhouse gases continue to increase, the 2010 record will not stand for long,’ says James Hansen, the director of GISS.

‘Global temperature is rising as fast in the past decade as in the prior two decades, despite year-to-year fluctuations associated with the El Niño-La Niña cycle of tropical ocean temperature,’ Hansen and colleagues report. (NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, ‘NASA Research Finds 2010 Tied for Warmest Year on Record’, press release, January 12, 2011)

The very stability of the Earth’s climate system is on the brink. Even an overall global warming of two degrees Celsius (2C) would be ‘a guaranteed disaster’, warns Hansen: ‘It is equivalent to the early Pliocene epoch [between about 5.3 and 2.6 million years ago] when the sea level was 25 m higher. What we don't know is how long it takes ice sheets to disintegrate, but we know we'd be starting a process which then is going to be out of control.’ (Phil England, ‘Tax on carbon: The only wave to save our planet?’, Independent, January 4, 2011)

Hansen believes that the UN climate talks in Mexico last December were ‘doomed to failure’ since they did not address the fundamental physical constraints of the Earth's climate system and how to live within them. These constraints and – crucially - how they are under threat by a rampant system of corporate globalisation are taboo subjects for the corporate media.

Anything beyond a 2C rise may well be catastrophic for humanity. Runaway global warming could be triggered if methane deposits under melting Arctic permafrost were to be released into the atmosphere.

Kevin Anderson, the director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, is another senior climate scientist who is deeply worried:

‘There is currently nothing substantive to suggest we are heading for anything other than a 4C rise in temperature, possibly as early as the 2060s. ‘Yet over a pint of ale or sharing a coffee it is hard to find any scientist seriously engaged in climate change who considers a 4C rise within this century as anything other than catastrophic for both human society and ecosystems.’ (Kevin Anderson, BBC News, ‘Viewpoint: Small steps offer no respite from climate effects’, December 15, 2010, Last updated at 18:15)

Meanwhile, powerful states and corporations are accelerating the rate of planetary consumption. There are occasional nice-sounding ‘green’ promises and aspirations. But in the age of WikiLeaks and the Palestine Papers, we know that powerful and ugly interest groups are really in charge, wheeling and dealing for short-term power and profit behind the benevolent rhetoric.

 

Climategate As An Excuse For Media Disinterest?

Remember those leaked emails involving climate scientists at the University of East Anglia and colleagues around the world? The lazily dubbed ‘Climategate’ affair generated a huge media storm in a teacup with even the Guardian, the supposed flagship newspaper of environment reporting, culpable. In November 2010, one year after the storm broke, senior NASA climate scientist Gavin Schmidt noted on the excellent RealClimate blog:

‘as we predicted, no inquiries found anyone guilty of misconduct, no science was changed and no papers retracted. In the meantime we’ve had one of the hottest years on record, scientists continue to do science, and politicians.... well, they continue to do what politicians do.’ (Gavin Schmidt, ‘One year later’, RealClimate, November 20, 2010)

As Schmidt observes, before the hacking of climate emails the media had responsibly begun to avoid the wackier ‘global warming is a hoax’ advocates. Yes, sceptics were occasionally interviewed. But they were becoming slightly more reasonable, at least accepting that carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, for example. Now, however, warns Schmidt:

‘since the emails were released, and despite the fact that there is no evidence within them to support any of these claims of fraud and fabrication, the UK media has opened itself so wide to the spectrum of thought on climate that the GW hoaxers have now suddenly find themselves well within the mainstream. Nothing has changed the self-evidently ridiculousness of their arguments, but their presence at the media table has meant that the more reasonable critics seem far more centrist than they did a few months ago.’

Schmidt cites a few examples of the corporate media driving the ‘balance’ of climate debate towards the cliff edge – and beyond:

‘[Lord] Monckton being quoted as a ‘prominent climate sceptic’ on the front page of the New York Times [...]; The Guardian digging up baseless fraud accusations against a scientist at SUNY [the State University of New York] that had already been investigated and dismissed; The Sunday Times ignoring experts telling them the IPCC was right in favor of the anti-IPCC meme of the day; The Daily Mail making up quotes that fit their GW hoaxer narrative; The Daily Express breathlessly proclaiming the whole thing a ‘climate con’; The Sunday Times (again) dredging up unfounded accusations of corruption in the surface temperature data sets. All of these stories are based on the worst kind of oft-rebunked nonsense and they serve to make the more subtle kind of scepticism pushed by [Bjorn ‘The Skeptical Environmentalist’] Lomborg et al seem almost erudite.’ (Gavin Schmidt, ‘Whatevergate’, RealClimate, February 16, 2010; see embedded links in Schmidt's article for the original sources)

Ben Stewart, media director of Greenpeace UK, is clear that the media, and not climate scientists, are to blame for any extra public confusion or scepticism:

‘The public haven't read a thousand emails from scientists they have never heard of. The emails didn't change the way that carbon dioxide traps heat in the atmosphere, but the media created a situation that presented a false symmetry between the various sides of the debate.’ (David Adam, environment correspondent, ‘How has “Climategate” affected the battle against climate change?’, Guardian, July 8, 2010)

Despite the massive media attention devoted to the leaked emails and to the absurd claims of extreme climate sceptics, public concern about climate instability rightly remains high. Bob Ward, policy and communications director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, accepts that there may have been some fallout from the media’s irresponsible reporting - a confused public easing off the pressure on politicians to reduce emissions. But on the seriousness of the climate threat itself, Ward says: ‘I haven't seen any evidence there has been any big change in public opinion.’ (Adam, op. cit. ). No thanks to the corporate media.

One Observer editorial last year noted correctly that the leaked emails had had ‘a disproportionate effect in stifling public urgency over climate change.’ (‘We must restart the fight against global warming’, Observer, August 1, 2010). Wringing their hands, the paper’s editors complained that it was ‘baffling’ why ‘it should be so hard to turn a matter of near certain scientific urgency into political action.’

Tragically, like their corporate colleagues elsewhere, the Observer’s editors appear oblivious to the corporate-driven greed of global capitalism that threatens billions of people. No wonder it is ‘profoundly depressing that the chances of concerted global action to protect the environment seem to be receding.’ It is a platitude and a slippery diversion to say, as the Observer does, ‘We must restart the fight against global warming’.

Where is the Observer editorial call to ‘restart the fight against corporate domination of society’? Where is their urging of mass action to oppose government and business policies and practices that are steering us towards the edge of the climate abyss? When the paper writes of David Cameron and Nick Clegg, ‘Their claimed ambitions to take a lead on climate change really are a worthy object of scepticism’, we may greet such an obvious statement with muted applause. But we should express the same scepticism of the Observer and the rest of the corporate media when it comes to the need for urgent, radical and far-reaching analysis and action on the climate crisis.

The Empty Room

Last month’s UN climate talks in Cancun, Mexico, were never going to save the planet. Indeed, they seem to have been regarded as a minor side-show by much of the world’s political leaders and news media. Amy Goodman of the US-based Democracy Now! was a rare exception with daily in-depth reports and interviews. Here is how she presented one item with a wry note of irony:

‘Well, I’m Amy Goodman, here in Cancun. We’re covering the UN global warming summit. You know, last year this time, we were covering the Copenhagen summit. The press room was packed. There were thousands of journalists. It’s empty now. I mean, it’s nice to have printers and computers galore, but with no one in the room but folks who are cleaning up and keeping it tidy and IT people galore, well, I don’t think this was just meant for me. But I think there’s a bigger story here about the lack of interest in the Cancun meeting as the world is getting warmer.’ (Amy Goodman, ‘Pressing the Silence: At the UN Climate Change Conference, the Media Center is Oddly Quiet’, Democracy Now!, December 6, 2010)

Goodman continued:

‘Am I being unfair? Across the hallway is the writing press room. Oh, it has seats for hundreds and hundreds of journalists. And there are now, what, maybe three? All this, as the earth gets hotter and hotter.’

Democracy Now! reviewed the transcripts of the previous week’s evening news broadcasts on ABC, CBS and NBC. The Cancun talks were not mentioned a single time by any of the networks.

SUGGESTED ACTION

The goal of Media Lens is to promote rationality, compassion and respect for others. If you do write to journalists, we strongly urge you to maintain a polite, non-aggressive and non-abusive tone.

Write to: Alan Rusbridger, Guardian editor

Email: alan.rusbridger@guardian.co.uk

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/arusbridger

John Mullholland, Observer editor

Email: john.mullholland@observer.co.uk

Please blind-copy us in on any exchanges or forward them to us later at: editor@medialens.org

Medialens
- Homepage: http://medialens.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=599:the-empty-press-room-how-corporate-journalism-happily-lost-interest-in-climate-change&catid=24:alerts-2011&Itemid=68

Comments

Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech