Friday, January 27, 2023
Green Reporter
  • Home
  • Biodiversity
  • Climate Change
  • Energy
  • Filmmaking
  • Food
  • Investment
  • Management
  • Sustainability
  • Technology
  • Transportation
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Biodiversity
  • Climate Change
  • Energy
  • Filmmaking
  • Food
  • Investment
  • Management
  • Sustainability
  • Technology
  • Transportation
No Result
View All Result
Green Reporter
No Result
View All Result
Home Energy

GB News criticised for platforming ‘dangerous climate change deniers’

GrR by GrR
June 26, 2021
in Energy
0
57
SHARES
247
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


GB News has had an unsurprisingly controversial opening two weeks. The first UK broadcaster to explicitly have a political angle, the brand new channel has been dubbed – by detractors and supporters alike – as the British version of Fox News.

Over the past fortnight, there have been lighter gaffes, like the myriad technical difficulties and many mischievous pranksters making their way on air, but there have also been some more troublesome controversies too.

While many are focusing on moments like the interview where Lady Colin Campbell appeared to defend the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, or a presenter thinking a weaponised computer virus was a physical disease – there has been less discussion of the harmful views being aired about climate change.

Broadcasting climate sceptics

The channel has interviewed two people so far who are associated with the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), a deceptively named lobbying group that promotes climate scepticism.

Matt Ridley, a viscount and member of the House of Lords, appeared on the channel to discuss carbon emissions as an adviser to the GWPF. Ridley is a strong proponent of fracking and owns land in England’s North East where Shotton Surface coal mine is operated – for which he is paid.

Ridley used the platform to claim our high levels of carbon dioxide emissions are “greening” the earth, which is “a common trope that is often used to play down the seriousness of climate change,” notes Rich Collett-White, deputy editor of DeSmog in an article analysing the channel’s environmental coverage.

Collett-White also commented on the channel’s choice to invite GWPF director Andrew Montford.

“Montford [spoke] about the allegedly growing risk of power outages in the shift to net-zero emissions, only to be met with a black screen, as Montford’s own connection appeared to fail,” writes Collett-White, “you really couldn’t make it up.”

Questionable funding

One of the biggest blows to the channel so far has been the number of companies who have withdrawn their advertising, with many sharing their concerns over GB News’s content on social media.

Vodafone, IKEA, Kopparbergs Brewery, Nivea, Specsavers, Grolsch, and Pinterest have all stopped airing commercials on the channel. Perhaps unsurprisingly, green energy supplier Octopus Energy was also among the brands to withdraw from the GB News ad space.

However, the channel isn’t solely funded by commercials. It also has several high profile investors – mostly from outside the United Kingdom – providing millions in financial backing.

Among these backers is the Dubai-based investment group Legatum. Legatum’s founder, the New Zealand-born Christopher Chandler, also helped create and still funds the Legatum Institute, a London-based think-tank with some controversial connections.

According to an investigation by Byline Times, the Legatum Institute “has direct ties to the Koch network” including “the Koch-funded climate science denial group, the Heartland Group.”

A recent report by Greenpeace found that the Koch Family Foundations spent upwards of €120 million between 1997-2018 financing projects, causes and groups which attack climate science.

Why does this matter?

While GB News brands itself as a platform for encouraging “opinion and debate”, it’s arguable that presenting climate science as something open for debate is potentially problematic.

“It is actively dangerous for them to be platforming climate change deniers,” says environmental scientist Sara Thomson.

There are political points where it is important to show both sides of the conversation and present alternative perspectives – but when it comes to climate change, quite often the ‘other side’ is often just conspiracy theories.

“I have views that differ from other people over things like taxation, for example, and I think it’s great to have a balanced debate on that,” explains Thomson, “but climate change is science. You can’t debate facts with financially motivated fiction.”

Anti-science articles dismissing the realities of climate change have been a problem for a while now, particularly with the rise of social media, but platforms like Facebook have begun to label this type of content as untrue.

Since the launch of GB News, Ofcom – the UK’s broadcast regulator – has already received hundreds of complaints about a single broadcast from presenter Dan Wootton. It is therefore likely that Ofcom may have its work cut out if the channel continues to broadcast climate science scepticism at the current rate.



Source link

Previous Post

WEG S A : promotes sustainability campaign with employees and customers

Next Post

Working to reduce our transportation emissions » Albuquerque Journal – Albuquerque Journal

GrR

GrR

Green Reporter is a global source for news of sustainability, green industry, green technology, clear energy, sustainable food production, and green investments. Our aim is to deliver the best news and information to you.

Next Post

Working to reduce our transportation emissions » Albuquerque Journal - Albuquerque Journal

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest

Climate change in our backyard: Manitoba begins to grapple with the consequences – Winnipeg

August 10, 2021

Repsol starts marketing debut sustainability-linked bond sale

June 29, 2021

Sustainability Ambitions Soaring at KCI

December 6, 2021

Chris Pratt explains where the White Spikes originated

July 3, 2021
Stop burning our rights! What governments and corporations must do to protect humanity from the climate crisis – World

Stop burning our rights! What governments and corporations must do to protect humanity from the climate crisis – World

Biden said to mull dropping corporate tax hike to fund jobs plan

Biden said to mull dropping corporate tax hike to fund jobs plan

Global investors pressure Asian utilities to cut emissions

Global investors pressure Asian utilities to cut emissions

Global inequity could derail path to net zero

Global inequity could derail path to net zero

What’s With A24’s Religious Obsession?

August 12, 2022

Governor Hochul Announces Completion of $16 Million Affordable Housing Development in Monroe County

August 12, 2022

EU ban on Russian coal enters into force

August 12, 2022

Immune system insights and Thai climate calculator: News from the College | Imperial News

August 12, 2022

Recent News

What’s With A24’s Religious Obsession?

August 12, 2022

Governor Hochul Announces Completion of $16 Million Affordable Housing Development in Monroe County

August 12, 2022

EU ban on Russian coal enters into force

August 12, 2022

Immune system insights and Thai climate calculator: News from the College | Imperial News

August 12, 2022

Recent News

What’s With A24’s Religious Obsession?

August 12, 2022

Governor Hochul Announces Completion of $16 Million Affordable Housing Development in Monroe County

August 12, 2022

EU ban on Russian coal enters into force

August 12, 2022

Browse by Category

  • Biodiversity
  • Climate Change
  • Energy
  • Filmmaking
  • Food
  • Investment
  • Management
  • Sustainability
  • Technology
  • Transportation

Follow Us

  • Privacy & Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise

© 2021 Copyright Green Reporter

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Biodiversity
  • Climate Change
  • Energy
  • Filmmaking
  • Food
  • Investment
  • Management
  • Sustainability
  • Technology
  • Transportation

© 2021 Copyright Green Reporter