Media

Reuters' climate-change coverage 'fell by nearly 50% with sceptic as editor'

Media Matters for America study follows blog by former agency reporter about appointment of Paul Ingrassia

the Guardian,

26 July, 2013

Reuters' climate-change coverage fell by nearly 50% after a climate sceptic joined the news agency as a senior editor, a study has found.

The sharp decline in coverage since 2011, recorded by the Media Matters for America advocacy group, reinforces charges from a former staffer that Reuters cut back on climate stories under the influence of Paul Ingrassia, who is now the agency's managing editor.

Media Matters found a 48% decline in climate-change coverage over a six-month period, after Ingrassia joined the agency in 2011.

The New York Times and other news organisations have cut back on climate coverage, closing down blogs and redeploying correspondents, at times citing financial constraints. However, Bloomberg, Reuters' main competitor, has deepened its investment in climate change and sustainability coverage. The agency's founder, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, has been a strong advocate for action on climate change.

Charges of an ideological component to Reuters' declining coverage – related to Ingrassia's personal doubts about established climate science – have sharpened concern in media and environmental as well as business circles, because of the agency's focus on financial news.

"It is just not responsible in our opinion to be cutting back on an issue that is having such a profound impact on every sector of the economy," said Mindy Lubber, who heads the Ceres sustainable business network, which represents companies and investors controlling some $11tn in assets. "This is a financial risk that needs to be looked at and addressed."

The Climate Progress blog has since criticised Reuters for injecting references in stories to fringe groups that reject established climate science, and represent barely 3% of scientists publishing on climate change.

The news agency did not respond specifically to the findings of a deep cut in climate-change coverage. But in an emailed statement, a spokesperson wrote:

"Reuters covers climate change closely both as a scientific and public-safety issue, as well as the impact of climate change on businesses, the economy and the markets. We have a dedicated staff, including a team of specialist reporters at Point Carbon and a columnist, who all generate significant coverage on the topic across our various platforms. We remain committed to providing fair and independent coverage of climate change that complies fully with our Trust Principles."

The scrutiny of Reuters' climate-change coverage began earlier this month when David Fogarty, the former Asia Climate Change Correspondent , wrote in a blog post that climate-change coverage had been dramatically cut back after Ingrassia's hire. Fogarty, a 20-year veteran at Reuters, covered climate change for four and a half years. But early last year it became increasingly difficult to get climate-change stories published. Editors suggested he pursue other stories. Then Fogarty described a conversation with Ingrassia, then deputy editor, at a social event.

"In April last year, Paul Ingrassia [then deputy editor-in-chief] and I met and had a chat at a company function. He told me he was a climate-change sceptic. Not a rabid sceptic, just someone who wanted to see more evidence mankind was changing the global climate.

"Progressively, getting any climate change-themed story published got harder. It was a lottery. Some desk editors happily subbed and pushed the button. Others agonised and asked a million questions. Debate on some story ideas generated endless bureaucracy by editors frightened to take a decision, reflecting a different type of climate within Reuters – the climate of fear.

"By mid-October, I was informed that climate change just wasn't a big story for the present, but that it would be if there was a significant shift in global policy, such as the US introducing an emissions cap-and-trade system. Very soon after that conversation I was told my climate change role was abolished."

Fogarty left the agency soon after.

Censorship

As if we needed to be told

Climate Change 'Climate of Fear': Reporter Blows Whistle on Reuters

The media giant's hostility to covering global warming extends all the way from top editors to low-level bureacrats, whistleblower reveals

Common Dreams,

17 July, 2013

Former Reuters climate change reporter David Fogarty blew the whistle Monday on the global media giant's growing hostility to reporting on the climate change crisis, including a company-wide 'climate of fear,' in which Fogarty was given explicit instructions—and faced bureaucratic pressures—to avoid the topic.

Fogarty became so frustrated with his prohibition from covering an issue he sees as crucial to journalism—and that he was hired to write about—that he resigned his post earlier this year.

"From very early in 2012, I was repeatedly told that climate and environment stories were no longer a top priority for Reuters and I was asked to look at other areas," he wrote in an statement published in The Baron Monday.

Last April Fogarty had a conversation with Reuters' deputy editor in chief at the time—Paul Ingrassia—who informed Fogarty that he is a 'climate change skeptic.'

Fogarty soon noticed an increasingly hostile climate to covering the growing crisis. He explains:

Progressively, getting any climate change-themed story published got harder. It was a lottery. Some desk editors happily subbed and pushed the button. Others agonized and asked a million questions. Debate on some story ideas generated endless bureaucracy by editors frightened to take a decision, reflecting a different type of climate within Reuters – the climate of fear.

In mid-October, Fogarty was told that the paper is shifting its coverage priorities away from climate change. Soon after, Fogarty was instructed that his "climate change role was abolished."

At that point, Fogarty decided it was "[his] time to leave," as he could not, in good conscience, participate in a blackout of an important issue that "touches every facet of human life and every economy."

In an email to Climate Progress, Fogarty explained he wrote the public statement to:

highlight the troubling and puzzling decline in reporting on climate and environment issues by Reuters. The company had a great team of dedicated climate and environment reporters and Reuters earned a well-deserved reputation for objective and thorough reporting in this field. But over a very short space of time, the support and resources for reporting the climate and environment story were withdrawn.

Fogarty's revelations come amidst growing concerns that big media is turning away from the climate crisis as it grows increasingly severe.

In January, the New York Times closed its entire environment reporting desk and slashed positions, despite public outcry. In March, the New York Times shut down its "Green Blog" after four years, prompting opposition from within NYT staff.

Reuters site hacked

Reuters hacked: Bogus blog posts claim Syrian rebel exodus

Several Reuters blog posts claimed that the Free Syrian Army was withdrawing from major cities and acquiring chemicals weapons from Libya. The news agency now says the posts were fake, as their blogging platform had been hacked.

RT,

4 August, 2012

The company suspended blogging on Friday, and no new posts have been made since. 

“Reuters.com was a target of a hack on Friday,” Thomson Reuters, the news agency’s parent company, said in a statement. “Our blogging platform was compromised and fabricated blog posts were falsely attributed to several Reuters journalists.”

The bogus posts have now been removed, though their cached versions are still available online.

One fake post alleged that Free Syrian Army (FSA) commander Riad al-Asaad told Reuters in a telephone interview that “the Syrian Free Army (sic) will withdraw from all Syrian cities.” Al-Asaad purportedly said that the regular army had killed 1,000 rebel soldiers, and that the heavy losses, coupled with internal wrangling “for money and positions,” as well as betrayals, were forcing the rebels to leave Aleppo and other major cities, and head to Turkey.

There they would “re-coordinate” at secret bases set up “under the supervision of the Turkish government and the Israeli intelligence service.” 

The rebel commander’s fake statement also contained allegations that Qatar and Saudi Arabia betrayed the Syrian opposition and “made a secret deal with Damascus” in exchange for “investments” and “privileges” in post-conflict Syria. 

The phony blog post was said to have been written by Jeffrey Goldfard, who, according to his profile “writes about investment banking and the financial sector.”

Soon after the posting, the Free Syrian Army came out with a statement, saying the fraudulent report “was fabricated by the regime, as it seems the news agency was hacked.”

An earlier, also bogus report was purportedly posted by Frederick Kempe, president and CEO of the Atlantic Council, a political think tank. The publication alleged that the rebels had “fallen in key districts of their stronghold” of Salaheddine in Aleppo, and that Syrian forces had destroyed the communications network with Turkey. 

The post made it clear that government troops were about to root out rebel forces from Aleppo, and stated that “columns of Syrian tanks were seen entering the city.” To back that claim, the impostor-blogger embedded a YouTube video, originally posted by “Syria Tube.” The video shows military vehicles transporting a large number of tanks, set to the soundtrack of Clint Mansell’s ominous Lux Aeterna from Requiem for a Dream.

Yet another fraudulent publication stated that the Free Syrian Army was acquiring “Ghaddafi’s chemical weapons smuggled into Syria via Turkey.” It also alleged that rebels in Aleppo were seen putting on chemical masks, and that it was feared that al-Qaeda may be able to get its hands on the purported Libyan chemical weapons, including sarin and mustard gas. 

No one has claimed responsibility for the cyberattack. Both supporters and opponents of the Assad regime have engaged in cyber warfare and have been known to target sites opposed to their cause. A pro-Assad group known as the Syrian Electronic Army hacked al-Jazeera’s Twitter feed, and said more attacks against “fake revolution” websites were to come.

 

Screeshot of a hoax post on the Reuters blog website (http://blogs.reuters.com/us/) as cached by Google

 

Screenshot of the Google cache of an earlier forged Reuters blog post (http://blogs.reuters.com/us/)

 

Screenshot of the Google cache of another fraudulent posting on the Reuters blog (http://blogs.reuters.com/us/)