Since Storm Ciaran hit, I’ve been wondering who is responsible for the lack of coherent debate about climate change in the British media.
Are short-term politicians to blame for cynically downplaying this important issue in order to make tactical changes ahead of the general election to win over marginal voters?
Should we blame the trolling conservative media that undermines climate scientists and opposes net-zero carbon targets? Or is it the fault of the British who don’t really want to deal with this issue, despite the media giving it a lot of attention?
A new book came out today Toxic news? Fighting climate change, involves a combination of all three. This is a collection of essays by media pundits and scientists who suggest that the next decisive step in the fight against global warming will take place in front of an ill-informed public. And to some extent it depends on us – the audience.
In a disturbing passage from the book, John Riley, the former chief executive of Sky News, reveals the obstacles he faced in expanding the broadcaster’s coverage of climate change.
In 2021 he introduced Daily climate show bringing climate stories to the public every day. This does not work. “Sky News’ average audience has fallen by almost a third. Daily climate show went on air… only… to return to air as soon as the show ended,” he writes.
A special Sky News pop-up channel created by Riley to capture the excitement surrounding the 2021 Cop26 conference in Glasgow also failed. “[It] “Even in the sky houses, it’s almost impossible to see,” admits Riley.
We tell social scientists that we are concerned about environmental degradation. But do viewers (or journalists) consider this news? The pop-up channel “was unpopular with newsrooms, which needed to be regularly reminded that climate change was important and that news was about more than just crime, bullets and Westminster gossip,” writes Riley, the book’s co-editor.
As wars rage in Israel, Ukraine and elsewhere, climate change faces a tougher fight for cover. Tom Heap, host of the (now weekly) climate show on Sky News, notes that even David Attenborough’s global warming documentary had ratings “lower than the ratings for the simple wonders” the director is known for.
Climate disasters have become “known” to the public, says Heap, and there is a “shocking policy vacuum” around the issue.
Philip Collins, Tony Blair’s former speechwriter, argues that there has never been a “truly epic speech” on the “great existential question of our time”, partly because no one person has the answer.
Some politicians are using climate change to win votes. Hostility to ultra-low emission zone schemes in the Uxbridge by-election convinced Rishi Sunak to adopt an election strategy based on “reaching out to motorists”, claims former Time Journalist Ray Snoddy.
The Tory press is on the same page. With Sunak abandoning plans to phase out petrol and diesel cars by 2030,… Daily email celebrated the victory of his Rethink the Petrol Car Ban campaign.
Sun won his “Give us a brake” campaign. Many newspapers express disgust at the green activists, whom the paper calls “Tarquins.” Daily Star and “eco-clowns” in other media, says John Fuller.
Most of us rely on cars, so protesters like Just Stop Oil can get angry by blocking emergency vehicles and passengers.
Former Metro Editor Ted Young says the press has a responsibility to expose the hypocrisy of Prince Harry and Bill Gates, who are using private jets and yachts to promote global warming.
Questioning the “accepted narrative” about climate doesn’t make you a “reactionary lunatic,” he argues. This is right. But this is what happens when you answer these questions with dangerous untruths.
Liz Gerrard, ex Time The night editor says she was given the “full carpet” 20 years ago for rewriting a headline that said man-made global warming was real. She claims the newspaper’s owner, Rupert Murdoch, called her to complain.
Two decades later, the media mogul’s views on climate change “do not appear to have changed much,” she writes. She praises that she will evaluate the condition of the kiosk in 2023. I for a detailed headline about Sunak’s car ban as bushfires raged in Greece: “Tories warned against meddling in Green politics… as Rhodes burns.”
As for the rest of the media, she is especially desperate. “It’s the older generation that votes and buys newspapers,” she notes. “So the blinders continue for right-wing politicians and the press.” Turn on the gas boiler, fill the tank with diesel fuel and rejoice, because tomorrow we will die.
Source: I News
I am Moises Cosgrove and I work for a news website as an author. I specialize in the market section, writing stories about the latest developments in the world of finance and economics. My articles are read by people from all walks of life, from investors to analysts, to everyday citizens looking for insight into how news will affect their finances.