{"id":235555,"date":"2023-05-22T12:00:31","date_gmt":"2023-05-22T11:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=235555"},"modified":"2024-07-01T08:06:06","modified_gmt":"2024-07-01T07:06:06","slug":"climate-breakdown-extinction-and-the-most-stupid-boast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2023\/05\/climate-breakdown-extinction-and-the-most-stupid-boast\/","title":{"rendered":"Climate Breakdown, Extinction and \u2018the Most Stupid Boast\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

16 May 2023 – <\/em>In a recent Guardian<\/em> advert pleading for readers to hand over money to the paper, leading columnist Marina Hyde declared<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u2018My absolute favourite thing about the Guardian is not being told what to write.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hyde \u2013 or Marina Elizabeth Catherine Dudley-Williams, as she prefers not to be known \u2013 was, in fact, making \u2018the most stupid boast\u2019 that could be made by a journalist, to quote<\/a> George Seldes (1890-1995), the US press critic. He was scornful of journalists who proclaimed:<\/p>\n

\u2018I have never been given orders; I am free to do as I like.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Likewise, the American political writer Michael Parenti once noted<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u2018You say what you like, because they like what you say\u2026. you don\u2019t know you\u2019re wearing a leash if you sit by the peg all day.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Or, as Noam Chomsky told<\/a> a young, befuddled Andrew Marr:<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m not saying you\u2019re self-censoring. I\u2019m sure you believe everything you say. But what I\u2019m saying is if you believed something different you wouldn\u2019t be sitting where you\u2019re sitting.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Journalists are filtered by the elite-serving propaganda system such that \u2018difficult\u2019, \u2018crusading\u2019, \u2018awkward\u2019, \u2018firebrand\u2019 reporters are usually identified and stifled from clambering beyond a few lowly rungs of the career ladder. Or, if they manage not to be \u2018let go\u2019 by their employer early on, they learn to conform to generally unspoken rules on behaving as a \u2018responsible\u2019 media professional. One such key characteristic is to rarely challenge state-corporate power, or only within carefully circumscribed limits.<\/p>\n

Parenti explained<\/a> the typical career stages of a \u2018successful\u2019 journalist:<\/p>\n

\u2018In the early stage, you\u2019re a young crusader and you write an expos\u00e9 story about the powers that be, and you bring it to your editor and the editor says: \u201cNo, kill it. We can\u2019t touch that. Too hot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Stage two: You get an idea for the story, but you don\u2019t write it and you check with the editor first and he says: \u201cNo, won\u2019t fly. No, I think the old man won\u2019t like it. Don\u2019t do that, he has a lot of friends in there and that might get messy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Stage three: You get an idea for the story and you yourself dismiss it as silly.<\/p>\n

\u2018Stage four: You no longer get the idea for that kind of an expos\u00e9 story.<\/p>\n

\u2018And I would add a stage five: You then appear on panels, with media critics like me, and you get very angry and indignant when we say that there are biases in the media and you\u2019re not as free and independent as you think.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Rare voices of truth have been essentially banished from what is erroneously called the \u2018mainstream\u2019 media; in other words, the elite-serving state-corporate media. In 2018, John Pilger said<\/a> in a radio interview:<\/p>\n

\u2018My written journalism is no longer welcome in the Guardian which, three years ago [2015], got rid of people like me in pretty much a purge of those who really were saying what the Guardian no longer says any more.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

All of this is worth emphasising because, as we have explained (see here<\/a> and here<\/a>), arguably the worst crime of the state-corporate media is propaganda by omission. It matters for many reasons; not least because the public is not fully informed about climate breakdown<\/a>, the greatest crisis that humanity has ever faced. In particular, why<\/em> it is happening, the powerful forces that are primarily responsible, who is blocking progress, and the radical large-scale action that is needed now<\/em> to avert the worst possible consequences.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018Uncharted Territory\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The BBC is happy to highlight<\/a> Russian journalists who are \u2018challenging Kremlin censorship\u2019. But the persecution and torture<\/a> of WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange, imprisoned for four years in Belmarsh Prison as though a terrorist, while awaiting the outcome of his appeal against extradition<\/a> to the US, is largely ignored<\/a> by state-corporate media. This sums up the pathetic state of journalism, \u2018freedom of speech\u2019 and democracy today.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Kevin Smith, head of media at New Economy Organisers Network<\/a>, noted<\/a> that police were handcuffing climate protesters in Parliament Square on the same day that the Foreign Office was tweeting<\/a> criticism of press freedom in Russia.<\/p>\n

This state oppression of peaceful activism, while mouthing platitudes about a \u2018free\u2019 press, needs to be exposed because we are literally fighting for our lives.<\/p>\n

We already know that global rates of extinction are currently tens<\/a> to thousands of times<\/a> higher than expected without human interference. Scientists have been warning that we have already entered the 6th<\/sup> \u2018mass extinction event\u2019<\/a> in the Earth\u2019s geological history. As reported<\/a> by the ScienceAlert<\/a> website:<\/p>\n

\u2018Ambitious targets intended to slam the brakes on our current mass extinction may already be slipping out of reach barely a year after they were established, new research suggests.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is the conclusion from a study of bird and mammal data showing a huge lag, of up to 45 years, between environmental change and its impact on animal populations.<\/p>\n

\u2018This means the historic \u201cpeace pact with nature<\/a>\u201d pledged at the United Nations\u2019 Biodiversity Conference<\/a> (COP 15) in December last year may already be out of date, as the extent of this lag was not taken into account in projections of future losses.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

An article<\/a> in the prestigious Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which maintains the well-known \u2018Doomsday Clock\u2019<\/a>, currently standing at 90 seconds to midnight, warned:<\/p>\n

\u2018While observed warming has been close to climate model projections, the impacts have in many instances been faster and even more extreme than the models forecasted<\/strong><\/em> [our emphasis].\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Moreover:<\/p>\n

\u2018Recent research has confirmed that tipping points and cascades are already occurring, not at 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius of warming, but right now.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is deeply concerning, to put it mildly. Runaway global warming could quickly turbocharge already dangerous global temperature rise. Recall that in March the latest report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded<\/a> that:<\/p>\n

\u2018There is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This did generate<\/a> some coverage<\/a> at the time, before the media\u2019s narrow spotlight quickly swept away to other topics. But, today, where are all the major news broadcasts and front-page stories about the climate apocalypse that has not simply disappeared? Governments, corporations and big financial institutions are not being challenged robustly and repeatedly by state-corporate journalists who have learned not to scrutinise power too closely. As our previous media alert observed<\/a> of journalists:<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s all a game to be played for profit \u2013 nothing is to be \u201ctaken too seriously\u201d by corporate humans who exhibit \u201can amazing lack of realism\u201d for everything that matters.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Last month, climate scientists reported<\/a> that ocean temperatures have risen to new highs. The Earth\u2019s climate crisis, they observed, has now reached \u2018uncharted territory\u2019. Warmer oceans mean a more rapid sea level rise as well as accelerated melting of the ice caps. Higher ocean temperatures can be deadly for marine species, including coral which is already suffering extensive bleaching.<\/p>\n

Warmer water is also less able to absorb humanity\u2019s carbon dioxide emissions, as well as the excess heat that this has created. In short, the ocean\u2019s ability to act as a \u2018global buffer\u2019 for excess carbon dioxide and heat is reaching its limit. Runaway global warming is a real possibility.<\/p>\n

Mark Maslin, professor of Earth system science at University College London, warned<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u2018Climate scientists were shocked by the extreme weather events in 2021. Many hoped this was just an extreme year. But they continued into 2022 and now they are occurring in 2023. It seems we have moved to a warmer climate system with frequent extreme climate events and record-breaking temperatures that are the new normal.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Towards the end of an online BBC News article<\/a> on these latest shocking climate impacts, came highly significant remarks:<\/p>\n

\u2018Several scientists contacted for this story were reluctant to go on the record about the implications.<\/p>\n

\u2018One spoke of being \u201cextremely worried and completely stressed.\u201d\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

No further details were provided. Indeed, it is not unusual for such expert comments to be buried towards the end of a news piece.<\/p>\n

\u2018Big Hitters\u2019 Are Bought Functionaries<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Crucially, there is little, if any, intense media scrutiny of how governments are doing so little to respond to the dire warnings of climate scientists. In fact, governments are actively making things worse<\/em> by continuing to subsidise<\/a> fossil fuel giants, even as they make record<\/a> profits<\/a>. Financial institutions are complicit too. In the last 12 months, the \u2018Big 5\u2019 UK high street banks \u2013 Barclays, HSBC, Santander, NatWest and Lloyds \u2013 gave $37 billion<\/a> in loans to fossil fuel companies to expand production.<\/p>\n

But when did you last see the BBC\u2019s Laura Kuenssberg grill a government minister, bank chief or corporate boss on climate? What about Andrew Marr? Robert Peston? Or any of the other media \u2018big-hitters\u2019? What about the BBC Radio 4 \u2018Today\u2019 programme? Channel 4 News? ITV News? Where are the Westminster news reports about Prime Ministers\u2019 Questions<\/a> pointing out that, once again, politicians are ignoring the climate crisis and mass extinction of species, including homo sapiens<\/em>? Given the stakes for humanity, Westminster politics and political \u2018journalism\u2019 are simply a sham.<\/p>\n

Take a look at the main channels\u2019 daytime schedule, crammed with shows like \u2018Scam Interceptors\u2019, \u2018Homes Under the Hammer\u2019, \u2018Bargain Hunt\u2019, \u2018Loose Women\u2019, \u2018Dickinson\u2019s Real Deal\u2019 and \u2018Tipping Point\u2019 (a game show that has an ironic title, given that we are now breaching climate tipping points<\/a>). The public is being force-fed distracting \u2018light entertainment\u2019, while we should be fighting for our futures.<\/p>\n

We are literally talking about the likely extinction<\/a> of the human species if radical, large-scale global action is not taken now<\/em> to turn away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy. We also need huge changes in agriculture, transportation, infrastructure, city and town planning, the economic and financial systems, and much more. A responsible, public-interest media would be analysing these issues with as much, if not more, passion and relentless attention as was given to the coronation<\/a> of a king sitting atop an unjust, hugely-divided class system.<\/p>\n

Journalists who proclaim themselves to be \u2018free\u2019, and boast that \u2018nobody has ever told me what to write\u2019, are mentally chained to a corporate system that is structurally incapable of critiquing itself. The mass media is the propaganda wing of this planetary-destruction system of state power and economic exploitation. Corporate journalists have only the \u2018freedom\u2019 to be reliable servants to power and profit, reporting on mere scuffles between different political factions of the establishment. At best, \u2018free\u2019 journalists potter around the edges of the state-corporate behemoth that is driving humanity towards the abyss.<\/p>\n

Climate scientist Bill McGuire is clear<\/a> that although climate cataclysm is bearing down upon us, all hope is not yet lost. First, it is vital to understand certain \u2018brutal truths\u2019. One is to recognise that the global temperature is already almost 1.3C higher compared with pre-industrial times. The \u2018guardrail\u2019 of 1.5C warming, beyond which climate breakdown \u2018becomes all-pervasive\u2019 will almost certainly be breached by 2030. Therefore, said McGuire:<\/p>\n

\u2018we must accept the fact that dangerous climate change is certain. Many countries are coalescing around 2050 as a target for achieving net-zero emissions \u2013 in other words carbon neutrality \u2013 but by then our planet could easily be 2C hotter.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, what needs to be done? McGuire continued:<\/p>\n

\u2018To have any chance of a future worth living, we need to slash fossil fuel usage by 2030. The fossil fuel sector was subsidised by governments to the tune of $1 trillion in 2022, and this has to stop now. At the same time banks need to end the funding of new projects while insurance companies must stop insuring fossil fuel infrastructure.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This will only happen with large-scale public protest:<\/p>\n

\u2018It is becoming ever clearer that the only way to get governments and world leaders to act as they should is through grass-roots pressure that forces them to do so.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Politics and \u2018democracy\u2019 are broken. It is now up to us, the public, to save ourselves.<\/p>\n

__________________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> Media Lens is a UK-based media watchdog group headed by David Edwards and David Cromwell. In 2007,<\/em> Media Lens was awarded the Gandhi Foundation International Peace Prize<\/a>.\u00a0We have written three co-authored books<\/em>:\u00a0Guardians of Power-The Myth of the Liberal Media <\/a>(Pluto Press, 2006),<\/em> Newspeak-In the 21st Century<\/a> (Pluto Press, 2009), and<\/em> Propaganda Blitz<\/a> (Pluto Press, 2018)<\/em>. Contacts: David Edwards: editor@medialens.org<\/a> – David Cromwell: editor@medialens.org<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 medialens.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

16 May 2023 – Politics and \u2018democracy\u2019 are broken. It is now up to us, the public, to save ourselves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":228085,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[2314,2882,1017,125,2881],"class_list":["post-235555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-media","tag-corporate-media","tag-engaged-journalism","tag-freedom-of-information","tag-freedom-of-the-press","tag-journalistic-ethics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235555"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235555\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":235557,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235555\/revisions\/235557"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}