Leaked Memo Proves Fox News Manufactures Climate Change Doubts

by Nikki Gloudeman · 2010-12-20 06:09:00 UTC
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Just because something isn’t surprising doesn’t mean it can’t be maddening.

Exhibit A: The latest Fox News flap, which reveals more than ever just how much damage the network’s “fair and balanced” reporting is doing to environmental stewardship. According to a Media Matters leak, Fox News’ managing editor Bill Sammon sent a missive to his staff last year in which he wrote:

"...we should refrain from asserting that the planet has warmed (or cooled) in any given period without IMMEDIATELY pointing out that such theories are based upon data that critics have called into question."

The motivation for the CAPPED FOR EMPHASIS directive? Earlier, Fox correspondent Wendell Goler had the gall to report, completely accurately, that the United Nations' World Meteorological Organization said 2000-2009 was "on track to be the warmest [decade] on record.”

The fact that Sammon put a kibosh on fact-based reporting because it contradicted his political agenda is pretty nefarious, even by Fox News standards. But worse than that is the timing he chose to send the e-mail—just weeks after the “Climategate” scandal broke, and in the midst of last year's crucial global climate treaty negotiations in Copenhagen. This was a time when the public needed, more than ever, to be reminded of the unequivocal truth that the overwhelming majority of scientists think climate change is real, is human-influenced, and, left unchecked, poses a grave threat to global society. Instead, Sammon made sure his staff shielded Fox viewers from this reality and instead fed them an unhealthy diet of factually-nebulous climate change skepticism.

There is evidence that this spin has had a real impact. A recent survey found that daily Fox News viewers were “significantly” more likely than non-viewers to believe that most scientists do not believe climate change is occurring.It doesn’t matter what your personal opinion is, this is flat-out wrong. It is so inaccurate, in fact, that the University of Maryland study put it on a list of of erroneous beliefs that also included “it is not clear that Obama was born in the United States” and “the stimulus legislation did not include any tax cuts.” (Incidentally, the report found that Fox News watchers are the most uninformed overall.)

Sammon and Co. have done their best to thwart reality to support a political bend. It’s time we IMMEDIATELY fight back against such journalistic lies and fight for our environmental future. Tell Fox News that if it wants to continue to call itself a news organization, it should fire Bill Sammon and set the record straight on climate change. Sign our letter here.

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Nikki Gloudeman is a senior fellow at Mother Jones magazine where she writes about the environment and other topics.

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