Stories on global warming are banned
By on Oct 30th, 2006 at 1:56 pm
Stories on global warming are banned
at two local television stations in Maine. Michael Palmer, the general manager, told employees in an e-mail that they were not allowed to cover climate change stories because he placed them “in the same category as ‘the killer African bee scare‘ from the 1970s or, more recently, the Y2K scare when everyone’s computer was going to self-destruct.”
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Beyond stupidity.
October 30th, 2006 at 1:59 pmOh NO!!! A company making a business decision.
October 30th, 2006 at 2:02 pmthe Y2K scare was real and if preventative action had not been taken, we would have had a huge disaster on our hands…
hmmm…. something ring a bell here?
October 30th, 2006 at 2:02 pmGuess the good people of Maine won’t know about GW until they start pulling spiny lobsters out of their traps instead of Maine Lobster. “The coral reefs around Bangor are beautiful!!”
October 30th, 2006 at 2:08 pmThe valid point in this story?
Stupid people in the media take real concerns and distort them in unsupportable ways.
October 30th, 2006 at 2:08 pmAsk anyone in the southwest if killer bees are fake!
Ask any polar bear that drownds from not ice if global warming is fake.
October 30th, 2006 at 2:09 pmOn what basis did the GM make the determination that global warming is total bunk like the killer bees and not a real threat like the intelligence memo bin laden determine to strike in US?
October 30th, 2006 at 2:12 pmI keep telling my conservative friends who cling to this old cannard about “liberal media.” Journalists may be personally liberal, but they work for people who are not liberal. Bosses call the shots. We all know this.
October 30th, 2006 at 2:15 pmWell hello, real estate agents and developers on the Maine seacoast! We were expecting you folks to start panicking as soon as it became evident that climate change and rising sea levels will bring a big hit to your greedy scams!
October 30th, 2006 at 2:17 pmApparently you’ve been investing in broadcast communications as well, huh?
My intuition tells me you’re gambling you can still scare people into believing they’ll make a bundle in a few years if they invest NOW!
Yes, Roger Roger, you are right.
They made a “business” decision to not use their publically-controlled license to inform or even debate an important issue. Jack Abramoff, Ken Lay, Duke Cunningham, and others’ with selfish motives also made “business” decisions.
October 30th, 2006 at 2:18 pmRoger, corporations have the right to make business decisions. But, when they are using the public airwaves for profit, they have an obligation to the community to be fair and, to some degree, even handed. It is the responsibility of the community to bring this up the next time this station is up for for renewing their licence. Maybe they should lose their license.
October 30th, 2006 at 2:19 pmroger roger - dummy dummy
October 30th, 2006 at 2:24 pm#13,
This story stated that this station won’t air stories about global warming. I am assuming it won’t air stories that are for or against Global Warming. In that regard, they are being extremely fair. They aren’t airing either side of the arguement. You can’t get more fair then that.
October 30th, 2006 at 2:24 pmThe saddest part of this story is the ‘Ostrich Factor’.
October 30th, 2006 at 2:26 pmBush has convinced those who reap rewards from his regime that they can only continue to do so by ‘towing the line’.
So, corporations have stuck their heads in the sand, pretending that global warming will just go away.
That isn’t a business decision, Roger & Out.
That’s pandering to the powers that be in hopes some financial reward will be coming down the tube.
I should correct the above statement of head in sand, actually it’s ‘head firmly implanted in ass’.
Do you really want to force this station to air story after story about how global warming isn’t real? They would have to do that each and everytime they aired one about global warming being real. It is a catch 22 they don’t want any part of. This is a politcal issue and they don’t want any part of it. I understand that completely. It serves no good since these theories are still being debated on a politcal level. Yes, global warming is real and yes it is caused by man, but it is an impossible story when Washington is still denying it.
October 30th, 2006 at 2:26 pmThe station general managers comments and reasonings are hilarious!
“When Bar Harbor is under water then you can run a story about climate change!”
October 30th, 2006 at 2:27 pmROTFL
Not to worry the audience won’t notice. Mike Palmer manages to affiliates of ABC (GE) and FOX.
October 30th, 2006 at 2:29 pmRojer Rojo……
October 30th, 2006 at 2:30 pmDoes this imply, by inference, that you, and those you so arduously defend, are FOR global warming?
And if you are in favor of global warming, please elucidate further……
Wow this guy is a real genius. Does he have any clue how much money was spent to prevent the Y2K from happening? It didnt have a big impact NOT because we didnt do anything about it, but rather because thousands and thousands of programmers were paid to fix the problems.
October 30th, 2006 at 2:31 pmRoger, if scientists felt that next year a solar storm was going to hit the planet which would kill you if you were standing outside, that would be news, right? Wouldn’t you want to know when to avoid going outside and getting killed? How would the community be served by a station boss who decided he just didn’t believe it personally and was not going to allow news on this subject? And, if industry lobbyists were insisting this wasn’t going to happen, that would also be news. The station’s responsibility is to report the news if it calls any of its shows “news.”
October 30th, 2006 at 2:36 pmDo you really want to force this station to air story after story about how global warming isn’t real?
Comment by Roger_Roger
Ive seen your “evidence” to back up the “It isnt real” point of view… you cant even make one whole show out of what you got let alone story after story…
October 30th, 2006 at 2:36 pm#20,
With Global warming my roses have never looked so nice. Just kidding. I was trying to say they would need to air stories that discuss how global warming isn’t real. When you have a political issue like global warming, you have to air both sides or your aren’t being fair. They are choosing to air neither. Works for me.
October 30th, 2006 at 2:37 pmOh my. This guy thinks that the killer bee scare is false. Ask people in the SW US and Mexico if it is false. What a moron. Probably some fat ole’ white guy who is half senile. He is sane enough to keep his company but rants on and on about the commies and darkies.
October 30th, 2006 at 2:48 pmCareful Rog, with global warming, your strawmen could spontaneously combust in your living room!
October 30th, 2006 at 2:49 pmI am a programmer.
The “Y2K scare” was not a hoax, although possibly it was overblown somewhat.
If businesses had not looked into this issue, there would have been major economic disruption for a significant period of time. Some businesses planned better than others — Some had to hire many addtional programmers to fix mountains of code, while others had developed most of their software appropriately in the first place, and only had to make minor adjustments.
Michael Palmer is simply one of those manager types who continuously talks out his arse. His words are worthless on this matter.
October 30th, 2006 at 2:50 pmCould someone please arrange to have a coupla million Africanized bees delivered to this idiot editor’s home and office?
October 30th, 2006 at 2:50 pmWhy am I not surprised that the idea of ignoring a problem works for Roger?
October 30th, 2006 at 2:50 pm#26…..
It is hard to come up with stories people will accept which state that climate change and global warming are not real.
Beyond that, this e-mail directive to a small staff, in the summer tourist season, in a region heavily dependant on the tourism trade, and on the heels of a sobering movie about said climate issues…….. is a business decision.
A business decision made so as not to scare away potential real estate and home sales customers. Not to mention all the service oriented businesses that depend on that same flock of sheep who want to believe everything is gonna be all right …..
They’ll believe they will make a bundle in a few years if they can just buy now, and so what if its underwater someday? My insurance will cover the loss……..
(Yeah, well your insurance company will find out about that parking ticket you didn’t pay back in ‘73, and you’ll get nothing!)
October 30th, 2006 at 2:55 pmSo he uses two examples of past “scares” that were and are real… and uses it to support his opinion of why Global Warming ISN’T???
Asshat.
y2k was a real problem that was solved with ACTION and as a result the worst of the fears were prevented.
Killer Bees migrating into the south U.S. and Mexico is also a FACT.
I weep for the future.
October 30th, 2006 at 2:56 pmThis story stated that this station won’t air stories about global warming. I am assuming it won’t air stories that are for or against Global Warming. In that regard, they are being extremely fair. They aren’t airing either side of the arguement. You can’t get more fair then that.
Comment by Roger_Roger
Either you believe in fascism and hiding all (good and bad) information for the sake of stifling honest debate or you prefer for the good people of this country to remain as ignorant of you apparently would like to be. Either choice is not good for this coountry. Why do you hate America?
October 30th, 2006 at 2:58 pmWHO CARES if this was a “business decision”.
How does that justify or change the moral repugnance of this decision to pass the buck on informing the public (who allows the use of airwaves for this “business”) on a grave and real danger?
It doesn’t.
Money over truth. Money over the future of the planet and humanity. Money over all.
Capitalism at its finest!
October 30th, 2006 at 3:00 pm#20, With Global warming my roses have never looked so nice. Just kidding…..actually my roses have withered and died. The weather has been getting too hot for them to thrive in my region but I don’t see how any of that apllies to Global Warming.
October 30th, 2006 at 3:04 pmComment by Roger_Roger with addition by dlet
don’t bother with roger,he a troll just taking up space here.
October 30th, 2006 at 3:04 pm‘Freedom of the Press…to not tell stories that the advertisers/big corperations don’t like’….The 1st amendment doesn’t say anything like that.
Given that Bangor, ME is located on the Penobscot River, which rises and falls with the tide on Penoscot Bay, which is just South of Bar Harbor on the Maine coast…about the time that Bar Harbor is underwater, downtown Bangor will be, too. This guy’s listeners might appreciate a little more notice than that. Wonder if he’ll float when they throw him in…
October 30th, 2006 at 3:06 pmMoney Uber Alles!
Salute the Flag! Pledge your alliegence!
To question the President is treason!
The terrorists in Eurasia have obtained nuclear weapons!
October 30th, 2006 at 3:07 pmPerhaps someone should organize a challenge to the station’s FCC license. The station is showing willful disregard for the public interest.
October 30th, 2006 at 3:10 pm#26 Global warming is not a political issue. It’s science.
The process of making people behave in a certain manner when confronted with the reality of global warming, now that’s politics. But if you want to look at it that way, everything is politics…
October 30th, 2006 at 3:13 pmThat anyone would listen to the industry-paid non-scientists, proven liar Rethug politicians, or quid pro quo media above the unified voice of the American scientific community is a tragedy in itself.
When Shanghai is underwater they’ll either (1) blame the Democrats or (2) argue that their policies were not conservative *enough*.
October 30th, 2006 at 3:16 pmThe Y2K bug was real and some companies were affected when they didn’t upgrade.
A guy just died in Orange County, CA by being stun to death by Africanized bees.
Republicans, like our very own little retarded buy name Roger_Roger, are just plain simpletons.
Vote out the retards.
October 30th, 2006 at 3:16 pmAs a “veteran” of the Y2K “wars” let me assure you that if companies would not have sunken a great deal of money into repairing the Y2K glitch that just about every date sensitive report would have been worthless. Some programs would have crashed while others would have simply produced bad results. As it was some programs still failed. But because 12/31/99 happened on a Saturday companies had Sunday to effect repairs. Y2K was not a non-event as this clown suggests, believe me.
October 30th, 2006 at 3:18 pmAs a Maine resident, I will no longer be watching any station, for news or anything else that promotes censorship. This T.V. station is nothing more than a propaganda machine for the so-called conservatives that have run up the biggest deficit in the history of our nation.
October 30th, 2006 at 3:27 pmThats funny because it was an right winger [Gary North] that helped create and propagate the Y2k scare!!
October 30th, 2006 at 3:57 pmYep, pseudo-scientists and pseudo-climatologists made wild claims that the summer of 2006 was going to be the worst hurricane season ever, ever, ever ….
what a dud ….
You all just made fools of yourselves ….
luv it, luv it, luv it …
October 30th, 2006 at 4:07 pmAlaska’s melting -
hope your Yukon Denali
doubles as a boat.
http://www.honku.org/
October 30th, 2006 at 4:07 pmAny relationship to Sinclair Broadcast Group? You know, those good folks who planned to broadcast a 90 minute Infomercial for GW during the 2004 election while calling it a documentary about Kerry and the Swiftees. If so, everyone better start checking a long list of stations around the nation.
October 30th, 2006 at 4:14 pmBTW,
Do you get all your news headlines from Drudge or is that just a recent thing?
October 30th, 2006 at 4:17 pmAny relationship to Sinclair Broadcast Group? You know, those friendly down home folks that brought you a 90 minute infomercial about Kerry as written by the Swiftees one week before the 2004 elections. If so, everyoen better start checking their ‘local’ TV stations for fair and balanced news about Global Warming
October 30th, 2006 at 4:18 pmThe beauty of the internet is that people can bypass the staions like this to get their news, which is why of course, BushCo wants to meddle with it.
Once the people of Maine discover that their local TV station is acting as censor for “inconvenient truths”, they won’t easily trust them again.
I wonder if the fact that this is Kenebunkport country has something to do with the GM’s decision?
October 30th, 2006 at 4:18 pmDear Jason:
Show me 1 article where any scientist or climatoligist said 2006 was going to be the worst hurricane season ever.
Or perhaps they said that the number of hurricanes as well as their severity will continue to grow in the future.
Seriosly, a single data point does not show a trend, Jason. Like other global warming deniers, you cherry pick one or two items and show your ignorance.
October 30th, 2006 at 4:24 pmI believe in Global warming and that man is to blame. I also realize that we won’t realistically stop Global warming since by nature, we will never stop using resources or limit our intake of them. Some of us will, but most will not care. Hell, we could cut our Co2 emission by 100% in America and it wouldn’t matter one bit as China and India will both be pumping out more then we do today within a few years. Good luck convincing China to impede economic growth and even India. China isn’t even held accountable to the Kyoto treaty. Basically, my point is simple. We are screwed!
October 30th, 2006 at 4:29 pm…and you know how much news organizations hate to scare their viewers. I wonder how many stories he filed about the Avian Flu?
October 30th, 2006 at 4:48 pmbobcat grad
As a warning to a fellow Buckeye, you may be disappointed trying to have an intellectual, fact-based debate with “he who must not be named” as many trolls that drop by here are after attention for a false ego boost. But, there can be the entertainment value in responding.
October 30th, 2006 at 4:55 pmroger-roger,
Tom Friedman of the NY Times has written that China is in the forefront of developing green solutions to energy production and consumption, because they get that climate change is a threat to economic growth and stability.
Our natural resources are finite and our use is causing a shift in the climate of the planet. Call me slow on the uptake, but I don’t understand why some people are so threatened by the idea of this country meeting the challange of conserving energy and making it cleaner. Where is the harm?
Or to put it another way, who does it benefit if we remain in denial?
October 30th, 2006 at 5:08 pm#58,
China is on schedule at add over 300 million new vechiles within 10 years. They also double there coal uage almost every year. Sure, they are looking for other fuel sources. The ones they are using will dry up sooner or later and then they’ll need whatever they found. Don’t think for one bit China will actually go “green”. the chances of that are the same chance you have Bush say “I love abortion”.
October 30th, 2006 at 5:42 pmNO GLOBAL WARMÄ°NG NO!!!! STUPÄ°DS. AL GORE, YOU ARE A STUPÄ°D DONT FORGET Ä°T.
October 30th, 2006 at 5:50 pm#59
Yet another excuse to not do anything… so in your view we should just accept our fate even though we have the potential to stop catastrophe.
You cannot predict the future. China may be on track to exponentially increase emissions right now, but as the future unfolds things change. China may well become a leader in becoming “green” before the U.S.
But if they don’t, it is up the US to be the leader in this area because RIGHT NOW we are by far the world’s largest emitter of CO2.
Also, if we take bold decisive action and show that it won’t cripple our economy then other countries will follow. We cannot use other country’s actions as an excuse for inaction. It doesn’t make any logical sense.
October 30th, 2006 at 5:51 pmHendler: “pseudo-scientists and pseudo-climatologists made wild claims that the summer of 2006 was going to be the worst hurricane season ever, ever, ever ….”
Who? When? What organization? Come on, Henler, by now you’re well known around here for your sweeping straw-man arguments that seem to be divined out of thin air. I’m sure you’ve researched your statement and can provide citations. Let’s have em.
October 30th, 2006 at 6:41 pmNot to worry. The center of Bar Harbor is about 70 feet about sea level, whereas Downtown Bangor sits at 23 feet. Palmer will be floating like a turd long before Bar Harbor gets it’s feet wet.
October 30th, 2006 at 7:36 pmOne moron says he believes in man-made global warning but we won’t do anything, so f*ck it (somehow I think the middle-schooler has no kids of his own) and the other tries to debunk the undebunkable. I am not sure which of our resident trolls are more stupid.
October 30th, 2006 at 8:58 pmIt’s official. Killer bees banded together at 12:00 AM on January 1, 2000 and caused global warming.
October 31st, 2006 at 1:31 amYou mean THIS Michael Palmer?
Michael Palmer
Vice President and General Manager
WVII-TV WFVX-TV
371 Target Industrial Circle
Bangor, ME 04401
Phone: 207-945-6457 ext. 3101
Fax: 207-942-0511
Perhaps the all the poor gentleman needs is a few friendly phone calls, faxes and letters. We could fill him in on the science so he’d be wikid smahtah about it.
:)
October 31st, 2006 at 1:51 amDoes this bozo realize that the reason Y2K wasn’t a problem was because we GOT SCARED and fixed the damned computer problem before it became a problem? We don’t have that kind of deadline with Global Warming, but the only way we get it fixed is when people are scared what will happen if we don’t deal with it. Of course I don’t want to hear for the gazillionth time “Global Warming isn’t real and this is the Earth Fairy that told me so” but the only way we get public debate on the issue is to have a public debate. Not covering Global Warming is like NOT covering the meteor that’s going to smack the planet. It’s relevant, it’s important, and no one’s doing anything about it in this country. Not covering is the worst kind of censorship: voluntary. As a news broadcasting agency, it is your duty to cover it, not a choice.
October 31st, 2006 at 11:59 amThis story stated that this station won’t air stories about global warming. I am assuming it won’t air stories that are for or against Global Warming. In that regard, they are being extremely fair. They aren’t airing either side of the arguement. You can’t get more fair then that.
Comment by Roger_Roger — October 30, 2006 @ 2:24 pm
He is balanced and fair by electing not to air both sides of the issue?
You are just too damned funny.
By denouncing the killer bee and Y2K issues, he is taking the stance that global warming is bunk. Hardly a “balanced” individual. If he wanted to do anyone a favor, he’d air both sides of the issue and let the viewer decide. Oh, but we can’t have that. God forbid that the average American use their brain.
October 31st, 2006 at 11:34 pmthis is stupid it is so fake
November 17th, 2006 at 11:46 amthis whole global warming controversy is so fake!
November 17th, 2006 at 11:48 amY2K was a “problem” that man COULD fix. The media still racheted up the panic to the public—-even though the PUBLIC had nothing to do with fixing the problem… which as I already said WAS fixable—and naturally was fixed. So why the “scare” to the public?
Killer Bees were “supposed” to be “blacking out the sky with their swarms” decades ago. ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz. It didn’t happen. Yes, African Bees are dangerous and in the US. Inform the public without causing hysteria about it. These bees are being dealt with. No panic needed for the calmly informed person.
Global Warming is caused by greenhouse gases. Man produces the most CO2. However, other greenhouse gases contibute MUCH more to the warming than CO2. Methane, for example, produces 20 times as much “warming”. Livestock FARTING–I kid you not–is responsible for 18% of the greenhouse gas effects….. significantly more than ALL of man’s planes, and cars and trucks that burn fuel.
Global Temperature fluctuations exist. We’ve had 6 or 7 Ice Ages—-so there’s no disputing this.
The issue is “what causes it”?…. and the media panic the public that it’s SUVs burning fuel.
We had 6 or 7 THAWINGS after the Ice Ages (Global Warming)——all without the combustion engine. But now the media panics you into believing that THIS TIME———it’s the fuel we burn (even though it never was before).
World Population and all of the byproducts of that—-is the 10-ton elephant in the middle of the Global Warming room. So is the volatile, gigantic burning gaseous mass known as the Sun. But the media fingers the SUV.
A Time Magazine article from 1974 actually suggested that we were on the verge of an Ice Age———and that man burning fuels contributed to GLOBAL COOLING!!! Which is it? Does burning fuels lead to cooling or warming?? These panic creators don’t know. My money is in the geometrically-expanding world population and the giant ball of burning gas that heats out planet…….neither of which we can control at the present…. and neither of which anyone panicking about Global Warming intends to do anything about.
February 23rd, 2007 at 1:52 pm