April, 02 2013, 03:51pm EDT
LCV, Sierra Club, Media Matters Launch Campaign Demanding More Climate Change Coverage on Evening News
The League of Conservation Voters (LCV), Sierra Club and Media Matters for America have launched a campaign demanding that ABC, NBC and CBS provide more climate change coverage during their evening newscasts. The petition campaign follows a recent Media Matters study that found that these networks featured only 12 climate change segments combined in 2012, a year of extreme weather and record-breaking heat waves nationwide.
WASHINGTON
The League of Conservation Voters (LCV), Sierra Club and Media Matters for America have launched a campaign demanding that ABC, NBC and CBS provide more climate change coverage during their evening newscasts. The petition campaign follows a recent Media Matters study that found that these networks featured only 12 climate change segments combined in 2012, a year of extreme weather and record-breaking heat waves nationwide.
"The new year shouldn't bring the same old coverage. It's time the nation's top evening newscasts give climate change the coverage it deserves. If we want to see action to address this issue, the media needs to connect the dots between climate change and the extreme weather we're seeing right outside our windows," said Vanessa Kritzer, LCV Online Campaigns Manager.
"National broadcasters have the power to influence decision makers and shape public discourse -- with that power comes the responsibility to report on the issues that matter most to Americans. NBC, CBS and ABC must meet the scale of the climate disruption issue with their news coverage, and with millions of American families losing their homes and livelihoods to extreme weather, we urge them to give climate disruption and climate solutions the accurate, thorough and frequent coverage that Americans deserve," said Maggie Kao, Sierra Club National Press Secretary.
"These are the top rated newscasts in the country. It's disheartening that in a year that saw record-breaking heat, massive wildfires and Hurricane Sandy, the networks failed to help their viewers understand the connections to climate change," said Emilee Pierce, Media Matters Energy and Climate Program Director. "Imagine if the same networks had covered mass layoffs in 2008 without mentioning broader economic trends. Leaving out the climate context for certain extreme weather events is no different."
A recent Media Matters for America study found that ABC World News did only one segment about climate change last year, NBC Nightly News did only four and CBS Evening News devoted just seven segments to this critical issue.
This lack of coverage came at a time when much of the country experienced climate change-fueled extreme weather, including extraordinary heat waves, severe drought and the devastating impacts of Hurricane Sandy. LCV, Sierra Club and Media Matters have set a goal of getting 60,000 Americans nationwide to sign the petition demanding that these networks provide more reporting on climate change, talk about it during their extreme weather coverage, and make it clear that global warming is not a disputed theory, it's a fact.
The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) is turning environmental values into national priorities. To secure the environmental future of our planet, LCV's mission is to advocate for sound environmental policies and to elect pro-environmental candidates who will adopt and implement such policies.
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