Chicago Tribune Proud to be 75% Accurate on Climate Change

“U.S., Europe worlds apart on climate science coverage,” is a fascinating piece of media analysis by Midwest Energy News.

In a well-sourced analysis, international freelance writer Tom Vandyck explains why “European journalists accuse their American counterparts of maintaining a false balance in their reporting, pretending climate science is still in doubt, and offering politicians cover for inaction.”

Ironically, while Cristi Kempf, the national foreign editor at the Chicago Tribune, tries to defend her paper, she actually makes Vandyckj’s case:

“We don’t have set policy on climate change,” she said. “You have to remember that most European newspapers are papers with point of view, maybe liberal or right wing. Most U.S. papers still do try to retain that objectivity. We will print stories that bring both sides of the view.”“We will print stories about climate change presenting it as fact, and we will print stories about people who say climate change doesn’t exist. It’s very obvious that a lot of people, including members of the U.S. Congress, believe it’s not true.”

… “When people say they are disbelievers of climate change, you have to point out that most of this has been debunked. I would say most of our stories – 75 percent – are overwhelmingly showing that climate change exists. Ice is melting, animals are dying – that kind of thing. And then every once in a while, you get something else.”

In his news room, Joseph Pulitzer displayed the motto, “Accuracy! Terseness! Accuracy!”  At the Tribune, I guess the motto would be “Accuracy! Accuracy! Accuracy!  Something else!”

As TP Green’s Brad Johnson notes, “One might hope that a major newspaper might aim for a higher rate of accuracy on an issue of civilizational importance than three out of four.”

“Objectivity” is not the same thing as repeating falsehoods.   Journalists aren’t supposed to be stenographers.

The whole story is reposted below.

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