Finally got a chance to listen to @emorwee's Heated podcast with @AliVelshi.
Velshi was awesome—smart, honorable, and remarkably forthright—freely admitting that "our [mainstream] media is not built actually to acknowledge" the #ClimateEmergency.
Some takeaways in a thread...
Velshi was awesome—smart, honorable, and remarkably forthright—freely admitting that "our [mainstream] media is not built actually to acknowledge" the #ClimateEmergency.
Some takeaways in a thread...
Velshi sees the #ClimateSilence of TV news, rightly, as a symptom of the systemic power of the fossil-fuel industry, which makes its message simply what passes for news & information.
"You may not know you're getting [its message] all the time, but you're getting it."
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"You may not know you're getting [its message] all the time, but you're getting it."
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Compounding that, the punchy, visual, crisis-driven aesthetic of broadcast news has also seemed to constrain its capacity to cover climate.
"We have [ways] of doing things, and they don't lend themselves to large conceptual discussion."
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"We have [ways] of doing things, and they don't lend themselves to large conceptual discussion."
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But one thing that's changed, Velshi notes, is that the science increasingly enables us to report on the links between climate change and extreme weather, suddenly making climate "good TV."
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This is why my group endclimatesilence.org has been calling for the TV news to report the links between climate breakdown and extreme weather in every single segment on hurricanes, wildfires, floods, etc.
Not only are these links real, they are also increasingly urgent.
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Not only are these links real, they are also increasingly urgent.
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But we also know the links betwn extreme weather and climate need to be stated simply and clearly.
That's why we at @EndClimtSilence have written script templates in basic, snappy English, which editors and producers can adapt into their segments.
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That's why we at @EndClimtSilence have written script templates in basic, snappy English, which editors and producers can adapt into their segments.
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It is not always easy, professionally or emotionally, to make these links.
Velshi shares that when he has done so he has received a flood of complaints.
(ugh)
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Velshi shares that when he has done so he has received a flood of complaints.
(ugh)
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But, hey! This is where we all come in. 💚
To denude the power of denier complaints, we in the climate movement must call for increased climate coverage as loudly as possible.
And we must continue to build power—and change fossil-fuel culture more broadly.
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To denude the power of denier complaints, we in the climate movement must call for increased climate coverage as loudly as possible.
And we must continue to build power—and change fossil-fuel culture more broadly.
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Indeed, @AliVelshi reveals, what is beginning to improve coverage is the way the power of the youth climate movement, and new kinds of climate journalism, has given the TV networks the *social license* to cover climate.
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Velshi: "But then what started to happen is two things. One is the movement started to get bigger, and started to bring new people into it. It became kids teaching their parents that, “Okay, this isn't gonna change unless we're all involved in it.”
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Velshi: "Then people like [@emoree] trying to force the discussion [helped]. There were books out there that spoke to me in my language. There were candidates who started to make this an actual priority...."
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Velshi: "...There were people who started to build policy around it. There were articles written that didn't feel the same. And it all came together and caused me to understand that this is my job."
AMEN
💚💚💚
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AMEN
💚💚💚
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2 other interesting notes from the pod:
Almost as an aside Velshi notes that a lot of media climate denial is rooted in business & economic journalism.
This seems true, so we're going to start paying close attention to these beats.
@amywestervelt @CoveringClimate
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Almost as an aside Velshi notes that a lot of media climate denial is rooted in business & economic journalism.
This seems true, so we're going to start paying close attention to these beats.
@amywestervelt @CoveringClimate
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Even journalists who understand this should beware when they read business journalism.
Eg, Velshi himself says that he "just saw a quote from the Financial Times saying that coronavirus is going to put a pause on anything climate related 4...the next 6 to 12 months."
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Eg, Velshi himself says that he "just saw a quote from the Financial Times saying that coronavirus is going to put a pause on anything climate related 4...the next 6 to 12 months."
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But this statement is what social science calls a "performative projection," a projection that in itself helps to produce the effect it's projecting.
This statement is not objective journalism; it's politics dressed up as analysis.
And it's dangerous!
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This statement is not objective journalism; it's politics dressed up as analysis.
And it's dangerous!
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In truth it's *imperative* that climate change be at the center of our coming policy discussions about how to rebuild the economy.
Govts are about to spend huge amounts to do just that, and we get only so many chances to spend big on era-defining national projects.
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Govts are about to spend huge amounts to do just that, and we get only so many chances to spend big on era-defining national projects.
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Further, we should not just rebuild the system that is producing climate change, but use this moment to build the more just & safer system that will preserve our children's lives rather than confine them to a future in which Covid-19 will seem like a staycation.
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And finally, coronavirus or no, we are
we are literally out of time to try to halt warming at 2*C.
If we don't do it now, we will confine our future selves and our children to live in and die from a catastrophe that, unlike Covid-19, will be permanent on human scales.
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we are literally out of time to try to halt warming at 2*C.
If we don't do it now, we will confine our future selves and our children to live in and die from a catastrophe that, unlike Covid-19, will be permanent on human scales.
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But of course Velshi knows this:
"So the takeaway might be that when space becomes more available for this conversation, we can start to convey to people: 'You know how bad that was? That thing we just went through? That's what climate change is going to do. Times 10.'"
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"So the takeaway might be that when space becomes more available for this conversation, we can start to convey to people: 'You know how bad that was? That thing we just went through? That's what climate change is going to do. Times 10.'"
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So glad he's there at @MSNBC!
Velshi is a bright spot of hope in the movement to #EndClimateSilence.
/fin
Velshi is a bright spot of hope in the movement to #EndClimateSilence.
/fin
