This is Fine (Part 3 of 3)
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“Liberal” Media Climate denialism at National Public Radio
The heft given to the purportedly “liberal” WaPo and NYT is generated by their corporate sponsors and corporate promoters. Even ostensibly non-corporate American news sources such as National Public Radio (NPR) wind up taking their cues from the neo-liberal ideologues. [1] Take for example a seemingly insignificant and uncontroversial report presented by National Public Radio on January 9, 2020, (as the Australian “bush” fires were raging and wiping out huge swaths of rare and endangered species’ habitats) dedicated a four minute section on “How Much The U.S. Relies On Oil From The Middle East” for their All Things Considered program.[2] In this segment one thing NPR certainly did not consider was anything having to do with global climate destabilization and the need to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Quite the contrary. Focusing on the partisan need to prove Trump to be inaccurate in every claim he made (Trump Derangement Syndrome, suffered by many “liberal” media outlets), NPR introduce their segment as follows [emphases mine]:
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: When President Trump spoke at the White House yesterday about the Iranian attack on two military bases in Iraq, he made this comment about energy.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We are now the №1 producer of oil and natural gas anywhere in the world. We are independent, and we do not need Middle East oil.
SHAPIRO: The first part of that statement is true. The second is not. Helima Croft joins us from Abu Dhabi to explain. She’s managing director and global head of commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets.
Really, Ari? Trump says we do not need Middle East oil and you tell us that we, in fact, do need it? Need it for what? Burning down the house? NPR, like the New York Times and the Washington Post actually do carry some coverage of the Rapid Anthropogenic Global Heating we are experiencing, but they sequester it into its own niche area — it has not been integrated into their political coverage, their economic coverage, or even much of their weather coverage. All three media outlets have been swift to remind listeners and readers that “No single, individual weather event can be attributed solely to climate change”. This disclaimer seems to come up more often than any serious analysis of climate change at all when covering floods, hurricanes, droughts, and fires. If global climate destabilization does get mentioned on NPR, it is usually volunteered, unbidden, from the meteorologists, farmers, tour guides, historians, community activists, or indigenous peoples being interviewed. Economic, Business, and Political figures are rarely questioned directly about the topic outside of specific segments dedicated to the issue specifically.[3] And even if the topic is miraculously brought up, the causes of global climate destabilization are rarely spoken of.
Later in the same audio section the predictably pro-corporate guest (Croft) praises the American fossil fuel boom as thanks to “this sort of entrepreneurial spirit of a bunch of independent producers in the United States” and warns “if you think about a situation where you had the Middle East off the market, that would be a huge problem for the United States.” The irony being that the US and the rest of the world desperately need to get off their addiction to fossil fuels, not just imported ones, but any and all. NPR blithely ignores this aspect to the topic and continues shilling for increased oil and gas consumption. Again, there’s no conspiracy, just a failure of critical thinking about the interconnectedness of issues and a slavish devotion to the neo-liberal ideology of free market capitalism and social liberalism.
NPR has made it clear what their position is on the climate crisis: they are not advocates on the issue. As they said in a 2014 response to their weak coverage of the People’s Climate March on September 21, 2014, “In its coverage of climate change, NPR long ago crossed the bridge to conclude that, based on the science, climate change is real and we humans are contributing to it. Some of the email writers seem to want NPR to be an advocate on the issue, but beyond drawing attention to it, NPR isn’t one and shouldn’t be.”[4] There are all sorts of social issues which NPR clearly advocates and champions (multiculturalism, removing Trump from office, transgender rights, and abortion rights, to name a few) but when it comes to issues involving widespread economic injustice or environmental concerns, NPR is explicitly not going to be an advocate, even as the world slowly chars into an uninhabitable nightmare.
The next step down into the intellectual and moral cess-pit of “This Is Fine” Denialism comes from another set of media sources also regularly blasted by self-described “conservatives” as “liberal” media: corporate television. CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, and NBC (to say nothing of FOX “News”). These outlets are all profoundly biased in favor of their corporate advertising interests when it comes to covering climate issues. Corporate television, even more than newsprint is beholden to an entertainment model of revenue streams and income. If it’s not entertaining, it’s not going to pull in viewers. If it does not pull in viewers, it’s not worth airing. Global climate destabilization is an abstract and depressing topic. That’s bad for viewership![5] Fighting off the misinformation put out by the fossil fuel industry and political conservatives makes it simply not worth discussing. This is part of the reason why in all the presidential debates for the previous twenty years there has not been one single question addressing the climate crisis. This is not a conspiracy. It’s a business model. Raising awareness of the climate crisis is simply not profitable on many levels, so the so-called “liberal” media is certain to not do it.
I think it best to simply summarize my point about those who claim there is no evidence for such a thing as global climate destabilization and/or no need to do anything about it by showing the well-worn meme created from the work of graphic artist KC Green in 2013. It hellishly sums up this “nothing is happening” component of Denialism perfectly: [6]
[1] NPR admittedly does not champion environmental issues. In addition to threatening their Congressional funding, promoting awareness of the need to reconfigure much of our economic system might impinge on their corporate millionaire donor base like GM, State Farm Auto Insurance, and Lumber Liquidators — all environmental degraders. Cf. NPR donor list: https://www.npr.org/documents/about/annualreports/NPRSponsorsDonors08.pdf
[2] All Things Considered. How Much The U.S. Relies On Oil From The Middle East” NPR January 9, 2020. https://www.npr.org/2020/01/09/795002059/how-much-the-u-s-relies-on-oil-from-the-middle-east
[3] Emily Holden. “The media is failing on climate change — here’s how they can do better ahead of 2020” April 30, 2019. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/30/what-will-it-take-for-the-media-to-focus-on-climate-change-in-the-2020-elections
[4] Edward Schumacher-Matos, “Missing the Mark: The Criticism of NPR’s Climate March Coverage” October 3, 2014. NPR https://www.npr.org/sections/publiceditor/2014/10/03/351810802/missing-the-mark-the-criticism-of-nprs-climate-march-coverage
[5] Anna Leszkiewicz. “TV’s Climate Change Problem” New Statesman America. July 31, 2019. https://www.newstatesman.com/climate-change-television-big-little-lies-chernobyl-game-thrones
See also Geoff Dembicki. “Climate Change Is Everywhere. Just Not On TV” Vice. July 15, 2019. https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/wjv3bq/climate-change-is-everywhere-just-not-on-tv
And statistical analysis provided by Ted MacDonald and Lisa Hymas. “How Broadcast TV Networks Covered Climate Change in 2018” Media Matters. March 11, 2019 https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/how-broadcast-tv-networks-covered-climate-change-2018
[6] Chris Plante. “This Is Fine creator explains the timelessness of his meme”. The Verge, May 5, 2016. (Accessed Nov. 18, 2019) https://www.theverge.com/2016/5/5/11592622/this-is-fine-meme-comic . The original illustration is 6 panels long, which works just as well for the theme of inaction in the face of calamity.
