SPOTLIGHT: Journalists have been dutiful government mouthpieces.

BIG PICTURE: Drieu Godefridi describes international media coverage of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as “a disinformation initiative of almost unparalleled proportions.” His highly recommended book provides numerous examples from the French media that mirror what’s happened in the English-speaking world.

Why have journalists made such poor use of their press freedom? First off, they fell for the deliberately misleading ‘IPCC = science’ claim.

They also tend to be pack animals, sharing a similar world view and lacking individual courage. When the French government pressured on-air weather announcers to hype climate change, a prominent TV weatherman wrote a book in protest. He was fired. His colleagues didn’t rise up in defense of straight-shooter weather reporting or of independent thought.

The media’s first loyalty is supposed to be to the public. Instead, journalists have spent decades parroting government talking points.

TOP TAKEAWAY: The IPCC is proof the media can be bamboozled and manipulated by officials they’re supposed to help keep honest.

LINKS:

The IPCC: A Scientific Body? Drieu Godefridi

• my further commentary on Godefridi’s book, Politics Always Win
• weatherman Philippe Verdier’s book

please support this blog

→ Receive posts via e-mail by signing up on the right side of this page, above – or by following this blog on Facebook and Twitter.
→ Download or e-mail a PDF of this post by clicking the Print button under Share This at the bottom – then select the blue arrow beside PDF at the bottom left.