Back in June, when former Bush Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson urged fellow Republicans to support efforts to reduce carbon emissions, I remarked to a friend that it’s not enough for him to do so; he, and the handful of other Republicans who hadn’t prostituted themselves to fossil-fuel johns, had a moral obligation to call out right-wing media figures who were peddling “Global warming is a hoax!!!” rhetoric.
Paulson and other non-denialist Republicans should also call out the corporate-media entities that peddle prevarication for profit (or plan to do so). For example, they should give CNN a good tongue-lashing:
CNN recently considered replacing the programming of its sister channel, HLN, with content from Glenn Beck‘s TheBlaze, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
The talks between the two parties fell apart after they couldn’t settle on a deal, according to the Journal. The Hollywood Reporter also adds that the failure to solidify a partnership was based on financial reasons, not Beck or his network’s conservative/libertarian ideology.
Ah, yes, the Beckster, the man who used his last CNN-related gig to compare Al Gore to Adolf Hitler. I wonder what CNN Crossfire co-host Van Jones–the man Beck chased out of the Obama administration five years ago–makes of this news.
CNN’s willingness to crawl back into bed with Beck is just another example of corporate media’s dereliction of duty on the climate issue (to say nothing of the ethical considerations involved!). As my Progressive Radio Network colleague Betsy Rosenberg wrote last year:
Imagine if the networks and newspapers did cover what’s happening to our life-supporting climate as if it really mattered. As if it mattered as much as a government shutdown. Day-in, day-out analysis, commentary and continued coverage–like what we’re witnessing now–would surely go a long way towards shattering what I call “the green ceiling,” that firewall which heretofore no programmer or syndicator has dared to cross. The resistance and downright refusal on the part of news media gatekeepers is something I know all too well, after fifteen years of trying to break through the barrier and get a dedicated program on national airwaves addressing our many eco-challenges and what we must do to avoid catastrophe.
Hey, CNN, why not give her a show instead of Glenn Beck? Let’s have some programming for realists, instead of rednecks.
