Influential group says climate reporters have ‘moral obligation’ to be biased, outlines new project

October 16, 2024

By Just the News

In a recent article in the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR), Kyle Pope, co-founder of the Covering Climate Now (CCN), asked for input on a project produced through an association of the CJR, Covering Climate Now, Solutions Journalism Network, as well as politically left-wing outlets The Guardian and The Nation.

The project is called the “Climate Blueprint for Media Transformation,” which encourages reporters to insert climate change into every story and to view fossil fuel industry voices as inherently dishonest. CCN also openly promotes the idea that journalists should not be objective when reporting on climate and energy.

In a chapter on the “Blueprint” called “The Movement is the Story,” Jennifer Oldham, a Denver-based journalist, encourages reporters to “connect with social change leaders” and to provide them with “validation” as a means to help them advance their cause.

“This doesn’t mean agreeing with activists’ views, but instead, repeating back their concerns and goals to ensure you’re understanding them correctly. When you accurately describe a movement’s vision for change from the inside, it can build solidarity with media consumers and inspire them to action,” Oldham writes.

When it comes to other perspectives on these issues, the tone is entirely different. In a chapter on “Myths and Disinformation,” environmental journalist Amy Westervelt rehashes the “Exxon Knew” narrative, claiming that Exxon researchers were aware of climate change decades ago and worked to hide this information from the public.

“Accountability journalism is often criticized as being more focused on problems than solutions, but we’ve seen the fossil fuel industry use PR throughout its history to avoid regulation and push society toward technologies intended only to extend oil and gas drilling,” Westervelt writes.

Continue reading here at Just the News.

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