During the recent election, I thought a lot about how the TV press portrays the news. Whichever candidate generated the most recent controversy got the most air time that day. The topics ranged from who was friends with terrorists to who spent too much on their wardrobe. Meanwhile, the average viewer knew very little about the candidates’ actual policy positions on jobs, health care, and a time table in Iraq – you know, the stuff people actually need to understand before casting their vote.
As a former reporter, it annoyed me then and it annoys me now when I come across media reports that purport to be news, but are really just tabloid junk.
Slate just did a story on this topic as it relates to how the press portrays the economic costs of climate change. In reality, the prevailing opinion among economists is that however much it costs to do something about climate change now, the costs of inaction will be much, much worse. Read the rest of this entry »
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