CBS's Scott Pelley & Catherine Herrick defend global-warming coverage

[highplainsdem]

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2006/03/22/publiceye/entry1431768.shtml

CBS News
Public Eye

Scott Pelley And Catherine Herrick On Global Warming Coverage
Posted by Brian Montopoli at 10:30 AM : March 23, 2006


This past Sunday, 60 Minutes aired its second report of the season on global warming. Both reports featured correspondent Scott Pelley. Pelley also did a report on New Orleans that dealt with climate change, and he is now exploring different angles for another possible global warming story next season.

I spoke with Pelley and producer Catherine Herrick, who produced Sunday's story with Bill Owens, about why they have become focused on global warming, as well as the nature of their coverage of the topic.

-snip-

Pelley's most recent report, like his first, did not pause to acknowledge global warming skeptics, instead treating the existence of global warming as an established fact. I again asked him why. "If I do an interview with Elie Wiesel," he asks, "am I required as a journalist to find a Holocaust denier?" He says his team tried hard to find a respected scientist who contradicted the prevailing opinion in the scientific community, but there was no one out there who fit that description. "This isn't about politics or pseudo-science or conspiracy theory blogs," he says. "This is about sound science."

But doesn't the fact that there are a lot of Americans who are skeptical of global warming – not well respected scientists, perhaps, but ordinary people watching the segment – warrant at least some recognition of the other side? "There becomes a point in journalism where striving for balance becomes irresponsible," says Pelley.

-snip-

Pelley's right, and it's refreshing to see a journalist be so blunt about this.

Though no amount of sound science and objective journalism is likely to budge ignoramuses like the one who posted the first comment on that page, starting by saying global warming is a "hoax" and ending, "The Arctic and Antarctic circles have intact glaciers. NASA perpetrates global warming to increase its Federal funding."

[amitten]

1. He is absolutely right. Sound science does not need to be

defended, or offset by an opposing, and factually incorrect, opinion.

Global warming is a fact, not an opinion.

[leftchick]

2. hooray for Pelley! It was a great segment!

I also heard about this new book yesterday on NPR's Fresh Air. It sounds depressing but a must read...

http://www.theweathermakers.com/weathermakers/

The Weather Makers
The History & Future Impact of Climate Change
by Tim Flannery
Most of us suspect that climate change is happening, but is it a terrible threat to our world or an exaggerated beat up? Or is it something in between - an issue that humanity must eventually face, but not yet?

In this groundbreaking and essential new book, Tim Flannery argues passionately for the urgent need to address - NOW - the implications of a global climate change that is damaging all life on earth and endangering our very survival.

This book is unimpeachable in its authority, deftly and accessibly written in its vision for what each of us can do to avoid catastrophe. It is a global call to arms, laying out plainly if not controversially what we know, what we think might happen, and what tools we have available to us to make a difference. The Weather Makers will change your life.

It is a difficult subject and hard for people to evaluate dispassionately because it entails deep political and industrial implications, and because it arises from the very core processes of our civilisation's success. Right now our fate is in our hands, for we are the weather makers, and we already possess the tools required to avoid catastrophic climate change.

[Ariana Celeste]

3. I love this quote:

"Special interests put out some great spokespeople, who are often better equipped to make their arguments that the people defending the science," she says. "People on the science side don't understand why the debate is still going on."

So true, so true. :thumbsup: