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CNN’s media coverage promoted climate change denialsim

“After Failed Climate Coverage, CNN Reports Americans Don’t Understand
Climate Change” Society of Environmental Journalists, 27 Jan 13
“Promoting a recent poll, CNN is treating climate change as a matter
of opinion, saying Americans are divided over whether or not it is
real. But the network itself has fueled such confusion, often failing
to report that manmade emissions are driving climate change or giving
credence to those who deny the science behind it.”

“The CNN/ORC International survey, released the morning after
President Obama’s inaugural address highlighted the need to address
climate change, found that 49 percent of Americans accept that climate
change is ‘a proven fact’ and caused by manmade emissions. This
represented a seven-point drop since 2007. A CNN blog suggested that
this showed Americans do not ‘agree with Obama on climate change,’ and
failed to clarify that decades of research have led the vast majority
of climate scientists to agree that manmade emissions are causing
climate change.

Moreover, if Americans are becoming more uncertain about the role of
manmade greenhouse gas emissions in warming the atmosphere, CNN isn’t
helping. Just two weeks prior, a special titled ‘The Coming Storms’
set out to examine ‘the factors that made the impact of superstorm
Sandy so devastating,’ featuring ‘insights from researchers and
scientists on climate change.’ While the program drew praise for
reporting on the connections between climate change and extreme
weather, it never brought up the driving role that manmade emissions
have played. In December 2012, CNN hosted a ‘debate’ on climate
science between Bill Nye ‘The Science Guy’ and ClimateDepot.com
founder Marc Morano, an industry-funded misinformer with no science
training. CNN failed to detail Morano’s background and gave him a
platform to repeat several well-worn climate change myths. And a Media
Matters study found that only 4 percent of CNN’s segments reporting on
record-breaking heat in July 2012 mentioned climate change.”……
http://www.sej.org/headlines/after-failed-climate-coverage-cnn-reports-americans-dont-understand-climate-change

January 28, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | media, USA