Some trueths about global warming trueths | Arthritis Information

     Such reports are all too common. If you didn’t know any better, you would think climate change already is a problem of Biblical proportions. The potentially devastating impact of climate change is consistently emphasized on a routine basis in network news reporting.

Media Coverage of Climate Change an Ongoing Problem

     This is the third time the MRC’s Business & Media Institute has analyzed network coverage of global warming. We wanted to know whether the past pro-Kyoto slant continued. To find out, Business & Media Institute researchers analyzed all the news stories about global warming and the Kyoto Protocol during the George W. Bush presidency – from January 20, 2001 until September 30, 2004. This was a time of a pivotal policy shift in the executive branch of government. The stories aired on the three broadcast network evening news shows (ABC’s World News Tonight, CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News), as well as the two major cable news shows (CNN’s News Night with Aaron Brown and the Fox Report).

     All three broadcast networks provided a fairly similar amount of coverage. CBS aired the most stories (49 stories, including 37 full reports and the largest number of anchor briefs – 12) followed by NBC with 47 stories (41 full reports, 6 anchor briefs) and ABC with 43 (36 full reports and 7 anchor briefs). The two cable networks ran a total of 26 pieces on global warming. The Fox News Channel led with 16 pieces (9 full reports and 7 anchor briefs). CNN had the lowest level of coverage with only 10 stories.

Global Warming More Dangerous Than Kyoto Treaty

     The networks love “scary” weather stories. They don’t seem to love explaining the “scary” consequences of signing the climate change pact. The networks rarely mentioned any financial impact in those 20 stories we analyzed. That sounds far better than it really was. In fact, most comments were extremely minor – either limited explanations by reporters or a one- or two-sentence quote from President Bush. On several occasions, the networks relied on versions of the Bush quote, “harm the economy” to elaborate on the possible impact of the treaty. The few times the networks mentioned the potentially positive effects of global warming, they were also buried beneath more statements about the perceived horrors of warming.

     That didn’t stop the networks from going into amazing depth about the potential impact of global warming. In nearly half of the total stories, the five networks focused on the harsh “realities” of global warming.

     Most of the articles were consistent in tone and style. Bad things are happening out there, they claimed, and many of those things can be traced back to global warming. Drops in lobster catches, hot weather, cold weather, more rain, less rain and a host of other occurrences were all linked in some way to global warming.

     CBS was disaster central. A full 55 percent (27 stories) of their stories discussed some sort of negative impact of climate change. That eclipsed their stories on the impact Kyoto might have by more than a 3-to-1 margin.

     The network even blamed warming for heightening our danger to terrorism by allowing terrorists to potentially take ocean routes previously impassible to naval traffic. On May 31, 2004, CBS reporter Jerry Bowen explained, “But Dennis Conlon, who helped write a recently declassified document exploring the military implications of a watery Arctic, says an open Northwest Passage makes America open to new threats.”

     ABC’s World News Tonight had the worst record of the five news shows studied in this area. While they covered the impact of warming in only 40 percent (17) of their stories, less than their broadcast competitors, they only covered the impact of signing the pact three times. That means warming received nearly six times as much coverage. In the newscasts we studied, cable was less hysterical. CNN only mentioned the consequences of Kyoto in 30 percent (three) of their reports – the lowest percentage among any network. The Fox News Channel cited the potential consequences of warming 38 percent (six), or only one-and-a-half as many times as they discussed the impact of Kyoto. That ratio of 1.5 to 1 was the lowest of any of the networks.

NBC, CBS and CNN Ignore Specific Cost of Kyoto

Bipartisan Opposition to Treaty Unreported

     The networks cited President Bush as blocking or pulling out of Kyoto about one-third of the time (30 percent or 49 stories). That’s only partially true. Bush was only one of many opponents, including the U.S. Senate, which must vote on all treaties. The networks only made that point once in all 165 stories. They blamed Bush for U.S. actions on the treaty 49 times more often than on the one story that discussed how the Senate had voted unanimously 95-0 against Kyoto. That unanimous vote included Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), although that is never discussed in any of the 165 reports.

No Science Debate Allowed

     There is an aggressive debate over global warming and the science behind it. The Russian Academy of Sciences recently agreed that the science of Kyoto is faulty. According to Reuters, the academy said: “The Kyoto Protocol has no scientific foundation,” as one of their conclusions about the treaty. That move didn’t jeopardize Russia’s support for the pact, in part because Russia had to do it to be approved for membership in the World Trade Organization. On network news, most of that scientific debate doesn’t even exist. Broadcast news programs repeated the claim that global warming is a given, that mankind is to blame for this “problem” or both 55 percent (77 stories) of the time. That’s roughly six times more often than they even admitted there might be some scientific objection (9 percent/12 stories).

     Bowen’s close of the story puts that issue to rest. “Barrow is a window on climate change, a change that’s indisputable. The question is the cause: man, nature or some combination.”

     The networks raise questions that typically are based on the assumption global warming already is occurring. The only question they seem willing to allow is about the cause – man or nature. For this and mostly every other aspect of the debate, they rely almost entirely on advocates from environmental groups.

Conclusions and Recommendations

     After analyzing 165 global warming network stories that aired between January 20, 2001 and September 30, 2004, it is evident that the networks present climate change as an imminent catastrophe.

     Anything the U.S. and other nations can do to head off this doomsday scenario, no matter how costly, should be attempted – even if doesn’t work, according to a majority of the network news programs we analyzed. The networks make little attempt at balance on this pivotal issue. In fact, the stories we analyzed didn’t even include opponents of global warming theory in any substantive manner.

     One of the most telling examples of this came with CNN Tonight anchor Stephen Frazier on March 31, 2001. Frazier was discussing the results of a new Gallup poll about environmental views and then let his own view attempt to settle the debate. “As for the environment, one of the issues of greatest concern is global warming, but how does that rank among other environmental concerns? That’s the topic of a new Gallup poll. Gallup Editor-in-Chief Frank Newport has the results.”

     Newport went on to argue just how foolish Frazier’s comment was. “Our key point in global warming, in terms of American public opinion is that the country does not seem to be overly concerned about it in general.”

     He explained that only 33 percent viewed global warming a problem, barely half of the number who considered water pollution a major concern. In fact, those who were worried about global warming had actually declined from 1989, when 35 percent had considered it an issue of concern. Somehow Frazier missed this essential point.

     Unfortunately this was a common problem in the newscasts we studied. Anchors and reporters consistently were biased. Only the Fox News Channel made an ongoing attempt at balance.

     It would be easy for network news programs to do better with very little effort. Network reporters could expand their list of experts and rely less on the same environmental groups. They could also do a better job of simply explaining both sides of the issue – complete with costs and other possible results.

     This report is designed to make it easier for journalists to do a better job of reporting on the issue of global warming. It attempts to both highlight their biases and commend those who did more in-depth reporting. The resources included at the end of this study should make it possible for journalists to understand the issue better.

     Here are a few recommendations for better and less-biased coverage in the future:

1. Give some Balance: Cover major issues in depth from both sides. Those reports should include experts from all aspects of an issue and lay out the potential benefits and detriments of each perspective. They should make a point of appropriately labeling each expert as well. Had that been done in this case, every network would have touched on salient points at least once during the three-and-a-half years of this study.

2. Follow the Money: The American public needs essential financial information so it can make decisions. The lack of this information leads to choices based on emotion, not fact. No nation has unlimited funds, so tough choices have to be made. Those choices require facts. The networks need to press Kyoto treaty advocates for hard numbers.

3. Be Skeptical of Environmentalists: The news media have no trouble being skeptical of big business, but they seldom apply the same principles to the environmental movement. And, rarely, do journalists investigate these so-called experts’ agenda. They should. News reporters should ask them the same questions about built-in biases, funding and conflicts of interest.

4. Track Balance Long Term: It is impossible to ensure that every story is perfectly balanced. News events drive agendas back and forth across the political spectrum. It is essential that the media find ways of tracking their performance on major issues as a check against an ongoing bias on different topics.