The folks over at DeSmogBlog have posted a fascinating new study comparing climate coverage in the US and UK. It finds US coverage is much more accurate than it used to be, finally dropping the pretense of "balance" with deniers and reporting climate change as the man-made phenomenon scientists know it to be. But it also finds the raw number of climate articles in the US still seriously lagging the UK. And there's the question of how much the shodding reporting has left Americans uninformed on global warming and the need for solutions. As Richard Littlemore writes, "Boykoff's research proves what we have suspected: the U.S. media blew this story - seriously letting down the people who rely on American journalists to show leadership - and give accurate information - on issues important to the whole world."
The second study was carried out in my living room while watching the Redskins-Eagles game. I was frustrated that in Sunday's full one-hour interview, Tim Russert hadn't asked Barack Obama about climate change even once. I went back and looked at every 2007 transcript to see how often Russert had asked his guests about global warming. Even for a media cynic like me, the results were shocking.
And for the record, if all scientific research could be conducted from my couch while drinking beer and watching football, I'd be Jonas Salk.
Seriously though, if it is that easy to determine that the press is pathetically lacking in coverage, it does say they're failing us. The quote from Littlemore that the American media is "letting down the people" really hits the nail on the head. For better or worse the vast majority of Americans get their information from the media - and the media seems to be primarily interested in feeding the masses only the stories that make the most money. Or at least that's what seems to be happening.
Perhaps a good study would be to determine if it's the journalists who are failing (due to apathy, laziness, lack of training, lack of integrity, etc) or the corporations who pay their salaries directing them to failed efforts. Not that it would make a big difference, but at least the blame could be placed accurately.