SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
In a Dozen Interviews, Media Never Bothered Asking President Trump About Climate Change
President Donald Trump's disastrous withdrawal of the US from the Paris Climate Change Accord understandably has the media in a frenzy. "Unconscionable and fatuous," proclaimed The Economist (6/1/17). Trump "shamefully abandons the fight against humanity's greatest threat," wrote Bloomberg News (6/1/17).
Jun 03, 2017
President Donald Trump's disastrous withdrawal of the US from the Paris Climate Change Accord understandably has the media in a frenzy. "Unconscionable and fatuous," proclaimed The Economist (6/1/17). Trump "shamefully abandons the fight against humanity's greatest threat," wrote Bloomberg News (6/1/17). But when given the opportunity over the past four months of his presidency to ask Trump a question on climate change, no outlet has bothered to bring up the topic at all.
In their respective interviews with Trump since he became president, AP News (4/23/17), CBS News (4/30/17), New York Times (4/5/17), The Economist (5/11/17), NBC News (5/11/17), ABC News (1/25/17), Bloomberg News (5/1/17), Fox News (2/5/17), Breitbart (2/27/17), Reuters (2/24/17), Time Magazine (3/27/17) and the Financial Times (4/2/17) all failed to ask Trump about his climate change views or policies.
The same Economist and Bloomberg who now lament, in almost apocalyptic terms, Trump's withdraw from the Paris Accords, when given the opportunity to press Trump on his climate change policies--or even broach the subject at all--chose not to.
FAIR could not find a single question about climate change in any interview or press conference with Trump since he took office on January 20, 2017.
The Washington Post (3/21/16) and New York Times (11/23/16) editorial interviews with candidate and president-elect Trump, respectively, did ask him about his climate change views. However, the vast majority of interviews by others during both the primary and general election campaign did not, including other interviews by both publications: The Post's Bob Woodward and Robert Costa (4/2/16) did not ask Trump about climate change, nor did the Times' Maggie Haberman and David Sanger in two separate interviews on international policy (3/26/16, 7/21/16). NBC's Meet the Press (8/16/15), Fox News (10/16/15, 5/16/16), CNN (3/9/16, 3/29/16), ABC News (8/2/15, 8/6/16), CNBC (9/12/16), Fortune (4/21/16), CNN (6/5/16) and many others also did not ask Trump about his views on climate change.
The 2016 presidential and vice presidential general election debates did not have a single question on climate change for either Trump or Hillary Clinton (FAIR.org, 10/19/16). There hasn't been a mention of "climate change" in any of the post-primary debates since October 2008, when CBS's Bob Schieffer referred to it as "climate control" in a question that wasn't even about climate change, but dependence on foreign oil.
Liberal media watchdog Media Matters' annual study found that in 2016, evening newscasts and Sunday shows on ABC, CBS and NBC, as well as Fox News Sunday,
did not air a single segment informing viewers of what to expect on climate change and climate-related policies or issues--including the Paris agreement--under a Trump or Hillary Clinton administration.
Despite the universal consensus on the science of climate change and the urgent need to act, the tremendous stakes to the planet and humankind, and the fact that the last three years were the three hottest on record, the media seems fickle at best in prioritizing the topic. They're mildly outraged when Trump pulls out of the only meaningful global effort to curb climate change, but have next to nothing to say in the lead up to him doing so.
Why no questions on climate change in any of the debates? Why no mention of climate change in dozens of interviews and press conferences since he's taken office? If the most existential crisis of our generation isn't taken seriously by the media, how can we expect the public--much less the president--to do so?
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
© 2023 Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR)
Adam Johnson
Adam Johnson is a New York-based journalist, a contributing analyst for FAIR.org, and co-host of the Citations Needed podcast.
President Donald Trump's disastrous withdrawal of the US from the Paris Climate Change Accord understandably has the media in a frenzy. "Unconscionable and fatuous," proclaimed The Economist (6/1/17). Trump "shamefully abandons the fight against humanity's greatest threat," wrote Bloomberg News (6/1/17). But when given the opportunity over the past four months of his presidency to ask Trump a question on climate change, no outlet has bothered to bring up the topic at all.
In their respective interviews with Trump since he became president, AP News (4/23/17), CBS News (4/30/17), New York Times (4/5/17), The Economist (5/11/17), NBC News (5/11/17), ABC News (1/25/17), Bloomberg News (5/1/17), Fox News (2/5/17), Breitbart (2/27/17), Reuters (2/24/17), Time Magazine (3/27/17) and the Financial Times (4/2/17) all failed to ask Trump about his climate change views or policies.
The same Economist and Bloomberg who now lament, in almost apocalyptic terms, Trump's withdraw from the Paris Accords, when given the opportunity to press Trump on his climate change policies--or even broach the subject at all--chose not to.
FAIR could not find a single question about climate change in any interview or press conference with Trump since he took office on January 20, 2017.
The Washington Post (3/21/16) and New York Times (11/23/16) editorial interviews with candidate and president-elect Trump, respectively, did ask him about his climate change views. However, the vast majority of interviews by others during both the primary and general election campaign did not, including other interviews by both publications: The Post's Bob Woodward and Robert Costa (4/2/16) did not ask Trump about climate change, nor did the Times' Maggie Haberman and David Sanger in two separate interviews on international policy (3/26/16, 7/21/16). NBC's Meet the Press (8/16/15), Fox News (10/16/15, 5/16/16), CNN (3/9/16, 3/29/16), ABC News (8/2/15, 8/6/16), CNBC (9/12/16), Fortune (4/21/16), CNN (6/5/16) and many others also did not ask Trump about his views on climate change.
The 2016 presidential and vice presidential general election debates did not have a single question on climate change for either Trump or Hillary Clinton (FAIR.org, 10/19/16). There hasn't been a mention of "climate change" in any of the post-primary debates since October 2008, when CBS's Bob Schieffer referred to it as "climate control" in a question that wasn't even about climate change, but dependence on foreign oil.
Liberal media watchdog Media Matters' annual study found that in 2016, evening newscasts and Sunday shows on ABC, CBS and NBC, as well as Fox News Sunday,
did not air a single segment informing viewers of what to expect on climate change and climate-related policies or issues--including the Paris agreement--under a Trump or Hillary Clinton administration.
Despite the universal consensus on the science of climate change and the urgent need to act, the tremendous stakes to the planet and humankind, and the fact that the last three years were the three hottest on record, the media seems fickle at best in prioritizing the topic. They're mildly outraged when Trump pulls out of the only meaningful global effort to curb climate change, but have next to nothing to say in the lead up to him doing so.
Why no questions on climate change in any of the debates? Why no mention of climate change in dozens of interviews and press conferences since he's taken office? If the most existential crisis of our generation isn't taken seriously by the media, how can we expect the public--much less the president--to do so?
Adam Johnson
Adam Johnson is a New York-based journalist, a contributing analyst for FAIR.org, and co-host of the Citations Needed podcast.
President Donald Trump's disastrous withdrawal of the US from the Paris Climate Change Accord understandably has the media in a frenzy. "Unconscionable and fatuous," proclaimed The Economist (6/1/17). Trump "shamefully abandons the fight against humanity's greatest threat," wrote Bloomberg News (6/1/17). But when given the opportunity over the past four months of his presidency to ask Trump a question on climate change, no outlet has bothered to bring up the topic at all.
In their respective interviews with Trump since he became president, AP News (4/23/17), CBS News (4/30/17), New York Times (4/5/17), The Economist (5/11/17), NBC News (5/11/17), ABC News (1/25/17), Bloomberg News (5/1/17), Fox News (2/5/17), Breitbart (2/27/17), Reuters (2/24/17), Time Magazine (3/27/17) and the Financial Times (4/2/17) all failed to ask Trump about his climate change views or policies.
The same Economist and Bloomberg who now lament, in almost apocalyptic terms, Trump's withdraw from the Paris Accords, when given the opportunity to press Trump on his climate change policies--or even broach the subject at all--chose not to.
FAIR could not find a single question about climate change in any interview or press conference with Trump since he took office on January 20, 2017.
The Washington Post (3/21/16) and New York Times (11/23/16) editorial interviews with candidate and president-elect Trump, respectively, did ask him about his climate change views. However, the vast majority of interviews by others during both the primary and general election campaign did not, including other interviews by both publications: The Post's Bob Woodward and Robert Costa (4/2/16) did not ask Trump about climate change, nor did the Times' Maggie Haberman and David Sanger in two separate interviews on international policy (3/26/16, 7/21/16). NBC's Meet the Press (8/16/15), Fox News (10/16/15, 5/16/16), CNN (3/9/16, 3/29/16), ABC News (8/2/15, 8/6/16), CNBC (9/12/16), Fortune (4/21/16), CNN (6/5/16) and many others also did not ask Trump about his views on climate change.
The 2016 presidential and vice presidential general election debates did not have a single question on climate change for either Trump or Hillary Clinton (FAIR.org, 10/19/16). There hasn't been a mention of "climate change" in any of the post-primary debates since October 2008, when CBS's Bob Schieffer referred to it as "climate control" in a question that wasn't even about climate change, but dependence on foreign oil.
Liberal media watchdog Media Matters' annual study found that in 2016, evening newscasts and Sunday shows on ABC, CBS and NBC, as well as Fox News Sunday,
did not air a single segment informing viewers of what to expect on climate change and climate-related policies or issues--including the Paris agreement--under a Trump or Hillary Clinton administration.
Despite the universal consensus on the science of climate change and the urgent need to act, the tremendous stakes to the planet and humankind, and the fact that the last three years were the three hottest on record, the media seems fickle at best in prioritizing the topic. They're mildly outraged when Trump pulls out of the only meaningful global effort to curb climate change, but have next to nothing to say in the lead up to him doing so.
Why no questions on climate change in any of the debates? Why no mention of climate change in dozens of interviews and press conferences since he's taken office? If the most existential crisis of our generation isn't taken seriously by the media, how can we expect the public--much less the president--to do so?
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.