RealClimate: CNN is spun right round, baby, right round

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2009/01/cnn-is-spun-right-round-baby-right-round/

CNN is spun right round, baby, right round

gavin @ 5:26 PM

With the axing of the CNN Science News team, most science stories at CNN are now being given to general assignment reporters who don't necessarily have the background to know when they are being taken for a ride. On the Lou Dobbs show (an evening news program on cable for those of you not in the US), the last few weeks have brought a series of embarrassing non-stories on 'global cooling' based it seems on a few cold snaps this winter, the fact that we are at a solar minimum and a regurgitation of 1970s vintage interpretations of Milankovitch theory (via Pravda of all places!). Combine that with a few hysterical (in both senses) non-scientists as talking heads and you end up with a repeat of the nonsensical 'Cooling world' media stories that were misleading in the 1970s and are just as misleading now.

Exhibit A. Last night's (13 Jan 2009) transcript (annotations in italics).

Note that this is a rush transcript and the typos aren't attributable to the participants.

DOBBS: Welcome back. Global warming is a complex, controversial issue and on this broadcast we have been critical of both sides in this debate. We've challenged the orthodoxy surrounding global warming theories and questioned more evidence on the side of the Ice Age and prospect in the minds of some. In point of fact, research, some of it, shows that we could be heading toward cooler temperatures, and it's a story you will only see here on LOU DOBBS TONIGHT. Ines Ferre has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Will the day after tomorrow bring a deep freeze like that shown in the movie? Research more than 50 years ago by astrophysicist Milanchovich (ph) shows that ice ages run in predictable cycles and the earth could go into one. How soon? In science terms it could be thousands of years. But what happens in the next decade is still up in the air. Part of the science community believes that global warming is a man-maid threat. But Dennis Avery of the Hudson Institute predicts the next 20 to 30 years will actually bring cooling temperatures.

Dennis Avery is part of the 'science community'? Who knew? And, while amusing, the threat of 'man-maids' causing global warming is just a typo. Nice thought though. Oh, and if you want to know what the actual role of Milankovitch in forcing climate is, look at the IPCC FAQ Q6.1. Its role in current climate change? Zero.

…

Follow the link for the whole sad story.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

1. Ya know, NPR may have been taken over by Bush shills

But on a long drive today, I listened to 2 science stories they produced, one about fishing and hunting leading to evolutional pressures on animal species, and the other about the discovery of methane on Mars and I have to say I was pretty impressed. There was light years difference between their comprehensive reporting and that of a typical MSM outlet. NPR spent a good 10 minutes or so on each story and interviewed experts, who gave careful and nuanced reports of the findings. Coverage of both issues on CNN and talk radio consisted of a few SECONDS on those stories, presented in the most watered-down and sensationalized manners. It's so depressing that CNN has cut out its science reporting department because, as flawed as it might have been, it was a damn sight better than mainstream news hacks trying to report science.

[hatrack]

2. Don't you see? The same market forces (sorry, Market Forces) that forced staff cuts at CNN . . .

Will surely improve science coverage for John Q. Public, in both breadth and depth!!

:eyes:

[depakid]

3. True enough- yet having scientist back at the helm of federal agencies will help a lot

provided that they're assertive (and allow staff to be assertive) and put fools (and senior news editors) in their place.

[jimlup]

4. Lou Dobbs is a total right wing hack

This isn't surprising at all. CNN has always been wishy washy on climate change to say the least.