The religion of global warming requires blind trust. But questioning the validity of mankind’s role must be caused by a “public disinformation campaign” funded by business, according to ABC’s chief global warming cheerleader, Bill Blakemore.
On the September 23 “World News,” Blakemore once again showed global warming advocacy rather than objectivity by claiming that “Public awareness [about global warming] lagged behind, partly because of a disinformation campaign funded by the fossil-fuel industry,” Blakemore said.
Blakemore’s blurred line between advocacy and objectivity abandoned one of the tenets of ethical journalism [2] promoted by the Society of Professional Journalists – “Seek Truth and Report It: Journalists should be honest, fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information.”
Using footage from a Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) commercial, ABC insinuated it was “disinformation.” “World News” didn’t include anyone from CEI or the fossil-fuel industry to respond to Blakemore’s attack.
This was not the first time Blakemore expressed his opinion that companies have “disinform[ed]” the public about climate change. In fact, at an American Bar Association conference on environmental law in March 2007 the correspondent was even more forceful:
“ [3]We have been spun by Exxon and Peabody Coal,” said Blakemore according to a March 13 article in the Summit Daily News.
Others in the media, including Steve Outing of Editor & Publisher, also support climate change advocacy instead of unbiased journalism. Outing said it is acceptable for the media to “abandon their old way of doing things when it comes to the issue of global warming, and turn their influence to good.”
Blakemore cited an ABC News/Stanford University/Washington Post poll that “83 percent of Americans believe humans play a significant role in the world’s rising temperature.” The poll is from April 20, but it also found [4]“only four in 10 are ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ sure global warming is happening, and 56 percent continue to think there is ‘a lot’ of disagreement among scientists about climate change.”
ABC has spread alarmism leading up to the September 27 meeting of the 15 largest greenhouse gas-emitting nations at the United Nations in
On September 18, Blakemore reported on “Good Morning America” that global warming was [5]endangering the polar bear, despite one claim by a polar bear biologist that the species was thriving.