Media Matters for America recently released its annual report on how major broadcast networks, including ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox, handled climate change coverage. There are some encouraging figures in the report, including the fact that climate coverage overall tripled from 2020 to 2021, including on morning news shows. CBS Mornings led the pack when it comes to such programming, running 387 minutes’ worth of climate coverage in 2021 that included an entire program devoted to climate on Earth Day. The network (where I used to work) dedicated overall nine-and-a-half hours to climate change across its shows, accounting for 43% of all climate coverage across broadcast news networks in 2021. Nearly a quarter of those segments can be attributed to Jeff Berardelli and Evelyn Taft, who were part of 29 of CBS’ 137 climate segments last year.
I had the pleasure of working with Berardelli a bit during my tenure with CBS, and, as both a climate specialist and meteorologist, his expertise and passion for the issue are unparalleled—which is why I’m concerned that next year’s Media Matters numbers will reflect his absence, as he left CBS News to join WFLA as its chief meteorologist at the beginning of 2022. There are very few correspondents who approach climate change with the rigor and devotion Berardelli displayed, though Media Matters notes that networks clearly had their favorites, including NBC’s Al Roker and ABC’s Ginger Zee and Rob Marciano. Though Fox’s climate coverage increased, the news network unsurprisingly did a piss-poor job of devoting any substantial time to climate change—save for two severe-weather-related segments on its Fox News Sunday show last year. Fox News especially continues to push climate change denial and outright false segments about this crisis.
The fact that so little about climate change is covered reflects a cognitive dissonance between news broadcasters and the audience they claim to serve. Recent Pew Research polls suggest that most Americans want the U.S. to play a role in a net-zero future and want the country to hit zero emissions by 2050. Though a Pew Research poll from last year saw most Americans voice their opposition to the way the country is handling climate change, the poll also showed that an overwhelming amount of people in advanced economies took climate change seriously enough to be willing to alter their very habits to mitigate its worst effects. However, a network news viewer wouldn’t know any of these things when tuning into morning shows or evening newscasts. Media Matters notes that climate change made up just 1.2% of overall coverage across the four researched networks.
Listen to Meteor Blades, Markos Moulitsas, and Mark Sumner discuss our dependence on fossil fuels on Daily Kos’ The Brief
The climate crisis isn’t getting any better the more network news turns a blind eye to it. And it’s not getting any better if the U.S. similarly ignores calls to pivot away from fossil fuels amidst the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and worries of skyrocketing gas prices. The only folks coming out ahead at this juncture are oil and gas companies and their shareholders. With extreme weather events already occurring and the looming threat of both wildfire and the Atlantic hurricane seasons, now is the time to take action. Call on President Biden to declare climate change an emergency under the National Emergencies Act. This will ensure that the U.S. not only meets the moment when it comes to climate change mitigation, but helps lead the way as the world moves toward a greener, more equitable future.