"The National Climate Assessment, a 1,600-page scientific report released by the Trump administration on Black Friday, outlines some of the current and potential consequences of global warming. But this massive coordination and analysis from the collective expertise of 13 government agencies was instantly undermined by four words from President Trump: "I don't believe it." So goes the story of climate change in American politics and media.
Not long after the president weighed in, a bulwark of highly paid climate deniers took to the big TV talk shows to discredit the scientists who put together the report. Lisa Hymas, director of the climate and energy program at Media Matters for America, tracked the egregious contradictions, distortions, and outright lies that were permitted on CNN, Fox News, and NBC. She and Brooke discuss why the television networks have such a hard time booking actual scientists to discuss global warming, and the pernicious myths and omissions that continue to dog our climate discourse."
Brooke Gladstone reports for On The Media November 30, 2018.
SEE ALSO:
"News Networks Fall Short on Climate Story as Dolphins Die on the Beach" (New York Times)