Monday, July 26, 2010

Golden Ostrich Nominee: NYTimes Dodges Global Warming

Today's Oblivious Environmental Journalism Challenge: Can you write an article on this year's worldwide, record-shattering heat ... without using the words climate, global warming, carbon pollution, or man-made?

The New York Times' Erik Eckholm is up to the obfuscating task. His article on the summer heat wave here in the U.S. brilliantly walks a tightrope over the big picture without falling into the trap of connecting it to man-made emissions.

Watch has he even dares to stick his head in the mouth of the lion, mentioning the global records while still carefully avoiding giving his readers proper context:
The stifling heat blanketing the mid-Atlantic this summer seems to be part of a global trend. So far, 2010 is on track to overtake 2005 as the warmest year ever recorded for the planet, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
It's hardcore oblivious environmental journalism like this that keeps people thinking global warming is only about melting glaciers at some point in the distant future, not about Americans dying in heat waves right now.

Special Bonus Ostrich: Bloomberg News is always right, therefore anyone who thinks it might have screwed up reporting on oil drilling poll data is automatically wrong.

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