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A bunch of newspapers and media outlets have today splashed that the #Gatwick disruption could be the fault of an "eco warrior".
This is *horrible* journalism, for reasons I outline here: desmog.co.uk/2018/12/21/com…
THREAD
This is *horrible* journalism, for reasons I outline here: desmog.co.uk/2018/12/21/com…
THREAD
First, to give benefit of the doubt, the police have said "one line of enquiry" is that this is the work of someone involved in environmental activism. The police have also said it is one of "several lines of enquiry".
Fine, report those two bits of information.
Fine, report those two bits of information.
But DON'T put as your headline splash that "eco-warriors" or "environmental protestors" are at fault/suspected of/have been blamed for this, as @thetimes @Telegraph and @TheSun all have. 
Reporting such speculation just makes it look like these papers have an anti-environmentalist agenda.
Remember @Telegraph still employs climate science denier Christopher Booker as a columnist. More on him here - desmogblog.co.uk/christopher-bo…
Remember @Telegraph still employs climate science denier Christopher Booker as a columnist. More on him here - desmogblog.co.uk/christopher-bo…
The articles in @Telegraph and @thetimes also namecheck @planestupid and @ExtinctionR for no apparent reason. @ExtinctionR has explicitly stated the Gatwick disruption is nothing to do with it -
So, where did such speculation start? And how did it hit frontpages?
The timestamps offer a clue.
The timestamps offer a clue.
The Times article was published online at 12.01am today, The Sun’s at 6am, and the Telegraph’s at 9.30pm yesterday.
An article by climate science denier columnist James Delingpole for the far-right @BreitbartNews website appears to have gone online at around 3pm yesterday.
An article by climate science denier columnist James Delingpole for the far-right @BreitbartNews website appears to have gone online at around 3pm yesterday.
In that article, he speculates (and even he admits it's speculation) that the Gatwick disruption is down to "eco loons" breitbart.com/europe/2018/12…
He also namechecks, you guessed it, @ExtinctionR and @planestupid.
He also namechecks, you guessed it, @ExtinctionR and @planestupid.
A few hours before his article was published, the anti-environmental attack machine @GaiaFawkes also tweeted its speculation that the Gatwick disruption could be "the work of militant climate protestors"
So, this is what the "eco warrior" #Gatwick frontpages are based on:
🕴 An unnamed Whitehall source;
🚓One bit of a police statement;
🤪And speculation by a couple of known climate science deniers.
It's at best terrible journalism, and at worst something much more sinister.
🕴 An unnamed Whitehall source;
🚓One bit of a police statement;
🤪And speculation by a couple of known climate science deniers.
It's at best terrible journalism, and at worst something much more sinister.
