date: Thu Sep 11 10:53:46 2003 from: Tim Osborn subject: FW: Media coverage of the recent heatwave to: cru.all@uea Dear cru.all@uea you might be interested in signing up to the letter below. I'm not sure of the originator (i.e. writer) of the letter, just gives an Oxford address. Personally I agree with some of the content but don't think it is worded carefully enough in places. Maybe you feel differently! Tim From: "Laura Middleton" To: You may or may not wish to respond to this. Laura ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Laura Middleton Scientific Assistant The Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research -----Original Message----- From: David Cromwell [[1]mailto:ddc@soc.soton.ac.uk] To: laura.middleton@uea.ac.uk Please consider signing the following letter and perhaps sending round Tyndall Centre colleagues. N.B. Do NOT reply to this email to sign up. Please email info@risingtide.org.uk as instructed below. David Cromwell James Rennell Division for Ocean Circulation and Climate Southampton Oceanography Centre RISING TIDE SIGN ON LETTER TO PROTEST MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE HEATWAVE ***************************************************************************** Dear Friend, The news media's reporting of the heatwave was a disgrace, especially the coverage given to the climate change deniers. And it is dangerous. Ask around and you'll soon find that most people have absorbed the message that everything is going to get better in a greenhouse world. This is a chance to challenge the underlying editorial values. Please SIGN this letter and distribute it on your own lists as far and wide as possible. Note the deadline of 12th September This letter will be sent to the news editors of all the national newspapers, the national evening television news, the main national radio news programmes, audience complaints programmes, and the Press Complaints Authority. In each case it will be personally addressed to the main contact. We will also use it to try to stimulate a wider debate about how climate change is being covered in the UK. TO SIGN THIS LETTER REPLY TO INFO@RISINGTIDE.ORG.UK AND PUT YOUR NAME IN THE SUBJECT LINE. PLEASE RESPOND BY FRIDAY 12TH SEPTEMBER. If you are signing on behalf of an organisation, or wish to give a few words about yourself such as your occupation or qualifications add the details to the top of the reply. We will keep your e-mail details confidential, pass them to no one, and will only write back to you to tell you about any response we receive. ************************************************************************************ ************ SIGN ON LETTER TO CHALLENGE THE UK MEDIA ON ITS COVERAGE OF CLIMATE CHANGE DURING THE RECENT HEAT WAVE Dear Sir or Madam We the undersigned individuals and groups are writing to you to express our deep concern and frustration over the recent coverage given to the August heat wave in the UK news media. The news media failed to truthfully report the heat wave in two important respects: it failed to accurately reflect the overwhelming consensus of the two thousand scientists involved in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the endorsement they receive from governments and major scientific institutions. Secondly it failed to report the heat wave with value free objectivity. In the first case, newspapers and television regularly reported climate change as an unresolved debate between experts. Prominent and uncritical coverage was given to the tiny handful of confident self promoting contrarians who defy the scientific consensus. In the Times (August 8th) Philip Stott, who claims I do not believe in climate changewas allowed a leader column to argue that global warming has morphed into an ancient style religion. Bjorn Lomborg was set up in debate formats on both Channel Four evening news and the Radio 4 Today Programme to argue that climate change is an exaggerated problem that is too expensive to counter. On the 10th August, when temperatures rose far above previous records, the BBC evening news introduced the news item as the climate debate. It carried an interview with a so-called climate skeptic, Piers Corbyn saying it has nothing to do with global warming- it is correlated with particles from the sun. It was irresponsible and unprofessional to give such uncritical legitimacy to Corbyn, who has no scientific credibility and refuses to subject his eccentric climatic theories to peer review. On ITV viewers heard the reporter signing off with the words- if and when we see these scenes again will depend on whether it is down to global warming or just fluke. Yet, if the public was being left in doubt as to whether climate change existed, they were left in no such doubt that higher temperatures were an altogether desireable outcome. Smiling presenters made live link ups to reporters eating ice cream at the sea side. They spoke of the excellent weather, basking in sunshineand presented forecasts of continuing heat as more good news. The newspapers were similarly awash with bikinis, cheering holidaymakers and news of record grape harvests. Even the Guardian, which had otherwise faithfully reported climate change, called on readers to rejoice(Editorial 11th August). This reporting of national celebration was biased and value-driven. It allowed no consideration of the extreme discomfort and danger such extreme temperatures posed to the sick and old. We now know that there were over 900 additional deaths in Britain during the week ending 15th August. In France the heat wave killed at least 13,000 people. In a wider context climate change threatens the lives and livelihoods of millions of the worlds poorest and most vulnerable people. What is more, this coverage allowed a space for contrarians to promote the pernicious argument that climate change will be beneficial. Bjorn Lomborg argued that warmer winters would lead to fewer deaths overall. Philip Stott claimed that a little warming in the UK can only be a good thing(Times, 8th August). An extraordinary editorial in the Spectator attacked the mass of hot air generated by the climate change lobbyand argued that Britain should not take a lead in international action because we would benefit more than anybody from climate change(9th August). We are therefore writing to you to express our deep frustration that, after two decades of consistent and growing evidence, the news media is still reporting climate change in this confused and superficial manner. Accurate and consistent reporting is all the more important to maintain focus against a problem which is relatively slow to develop and does not readily fit short term political and business cycles. We fear that yet another important opportunity has been lost to consolidate public opinion behind a wide ranging and timely response to this crisis. Yours sincerely, ************************************************************************************ ************ RISING TIDE Email: info@risingtide.org.uk Phone: 01865 241097 Address: 16b Cherwell St, Oxford OX1 1BG. Web site [2]www.risingtide.org.uk PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO A FRIEND AND INVITE THEM TO JOIN THE LIST To subscribe to this list send a blank e-mail to news-subscribe@risingtide.org.uk To unsubscribe from this list send a blank e-mail to news-unsubscribe@risingtide.org.uk