Sidebar to Special Report: Science Fiction
Al Gore's "Live Earth: The Concerts for a Climate in Crisis," were his attempt to reach the entire globe with his alarmist message. Rather than merely report on the concerts, NBC went to great lengths to promote them and threw away any pretense of objectivity.
On July 7, 2007, NBC Universal gave 75 hours of special broadcast coverage to those concerts on their programs. This BMI study only captured a fraction of that - what was aired during the "Today" show and "Nightly News," because the study only analyzed morning and evening network news coverage of Gore and "An Inconvenient Truth" The Bravo channel alone, one of NBC Universal's many channels, aired a full 18 hours of the event.
NBC failed to uphold the Society of Professional Journalists' Code of Ethics which says journalists should "Distinguish between advocacy and news reporting. Analysis and commentary should be labeled and not misrepresent fact or context." That code also states that reporters should "avoid all conflicts of interest, real or perceived" and "Deny favored treatment to advertisers and special interests and resist their pressure to influence news coverage."
Instead of being embarrassed, Jeff Gaspin, president of NBC Universal Cable and Digital content boasted: "By leveraging all of our properties, we will reach millions of viewers with this important call to action to combat global warming."
Live Earth's founder and producer Kevin Wall was grateful to NBC saying, "NBC Universal's sweeping coverage of Live Earth ensures that Americans from coast to coast will be able to tune in to the concerts and take action against the climate crisis."
Gore also expressed gratitude for NBC's huge corporate gift saying in an interview with Ann Curry, "Thanks for what NBC has been doing."
