The denialists at WUWT are up in arms that no serious environmental news reporter will go to science deniers and the flat earth society for their science stories (archived here). The WUWT commenters agree: "it's a conspiracy" they all cry out as one paranoid voice.
Anthony Watts posted this video Q&A with two science journalists and a documentary producer.
The panel of three was (left to right) Seth Borenstein of The Associated Press, Craig Welch of the Seattle Times, and documentary producer Steve Sapienza.
Anthony Watts highlighted a snippet at 45:35, where he misquoted Craig Welch, who actually said:
"Nobody in my newsroom quotes people who don't believe climate change is real, that I know of. And if I find out about it, I will go talk to them myself. But I also work in a newsroom where my managing editor used to be an environmental reporter, so there's never been ... I mean he understands what we're doing so..."
Anthony added the word "who" between "newsroom" and "quotes", which messed up the meaning a bit and confused his readers, not one of whom was capable of listening to the spoken words (at the time of writing this).
Seth Borenstein followed that up with:
As a corollary to that, it's perfectly fine to quote these people in a policy story. Saying that climate change is not important is a legitimate policy or politics story. It's not a legitimate science story. But going to the Competitive Enterprise Institute about carbon tax. Perfectly fine and I think you should. (Well there's so many of them you could choose your what.) But going to them about science? No.
Anyway, the denialati are outraged that science reporters won't talk to climate science deniers and gravity deniers and flat earthers and young earth creationists about climate or gravity or the shape of Earth or the age of the universe. They seem to think that when people watch science news, they want to hear about paranoid conspiracy theories instead of actual science. Well, people can if they want to, as long as they avoid responsible news media. All they have to do is watch Fox News, or read:
- the Daily Mail
- Canada Free Press
- Prison Planet
- Above Top Secret
- Watts up with That
- Infowars and
- many, many more.
From the WUWT comments
noaaprogrammer immediately assumes that it is Craig Welch who mis-spoke, when it was Anthony Watts who misquoted:
October 20, 2014 at 6:14 pmThese reporters don’t even know how to speak a grammatically correct sentence. (Explain the first sentence in the quotes!)
latecommer2014 believes that going to scientists for science, instead of science deniers, is "pure advocacy". I guess you could call it advocating for the facts.
October 20, 2014 at 6:39 pm
This isn’t journalism it’s pure advocacy by the church of CAGW
Dave VanArsdale doesn't know Craig Welch from Seth Borenstein and says:
October 20, 2014 at 6:41 pm
“…I mean, he understands what we are doing, so.”
Indeed, Seth Borenstein of the Associated Press, many know what you’re doing, so…shame on you for doing it.
Jack is amazed that journalists would "extrapolate" from science (ie translate for the layperson) and that they would refuse to quote science deniers:
October 20, 2014 at 6:43 pm
Amazing, they admit they quote scientists then extrapolate whatever they feel like from the quote. Another startling admission is that they refuse to quote sceptics.
So climate alarmism is all media hype.
willnitschke doesn't know what climate change is, and admits it to all on the "...the world's most viewed climate website", writing:
October 20, 2014 at 6:59 pm
I wonder what “climate change is real” means to people who use such a phrase. I know it doesn’t mean anything. Just wondering what is actually going on inside their heads.
Craig does an Inferno and talks about the staggering growth of Arctic sea ice, while accepting that WUWTers "all look like idiots". Indeed they do, today.
October 20, 2014 at 7:07 pm
I wonder if they can come up with a catch phrase about the 3rd largest recorded increase in arctic ice extent, which happened today: NSIDC reports a triple century today: +326k.
My suggestion is ‘Holy Crap! Don’t we look like idiots.’
hunter should start an online petition to get Associated Press and the Seattle Times to quit censoring flat earthers and gravity deniers and young earth creationists and greenhouse effect deniers and HAARP conspiracy theorists:
October 20, 2014 at 7:19 pm
So they are no longer reporting news. They are suppressing and censoring a discussion. In other words, they are mere bigots. The chronic obsession with “marketing” and “communicating” so-called climate change is a huge tell about the lack of reality in what these faux journalists and their cohorts are pushing.
Larry Hamlin agrees with hunter:
October 20, 2014 at 7:32 pm
Borenstein and the AP have been dealing in climate alarmist propaganda for years. They are engaged in a campaign of political ideology that has nothing to do with science.
CD (@CD153) read Anthony's misquote "multiple times" but didn't bother (or was incapable of) checking what Craig Welch actually said:
October 20, 2014 at 8:04 pm
…..and no, Welch’s statement makes no sense to me either. And I read it multiple times.
It's all a heinous plot, thinks markl, who writes:
October 20, 2014 at 7:49 pm
It’s not about temperature. The Liberals/Progressives/Greenies control most of the media and their agenda has nothing to do with temperature.
Despite yet another "hottest month on record", Col Klink is amazed that anyone would think that climate change is actually occurring:
October 20, 2014 at 8:14 pm
The wonder is that these people seem to actually believe that climate change is actually occurring.
Amazing.
r murphy adds to the WUWT "it's a conspiracy" refrain and says:
October 20, 2014 at 9:24 pm
Bit off thread but is not the field of climate science much like professional cycling? The leaders are all cheats but are successful so everyone just shuts up and pretends nothing is going on, but, as in cycling the truth comes out. Lets hope the ringleaders can be prosecuted and ruined, we owe it to those that were persecuted by them.
Yeah the dialog at 45.35 reads as you have said ... so will Watts have the grace to admit that the grammatical error is his own? I guess that's harder to do now that his mindless worshippers have picked up on it. And will the mindless worshippers take note that their readiness to fault commie mutant scientists - without bothering to determine where the fault really lies - leaves them looking stupid (yet again)?
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