Columbia Journalism Review says journalists should continue tying climate change to Hurricane Harvey. The Soros-funded liberal publication of Columbia University’s journalism school said that although that strategy can be perceived as “insensitive,” “That doesn’t mean they should be avoided.”
Hurricane Harvey news coverage has been full of attempts to link the storm to manmade climate change or portray it as exacerbated by global warming. Editorials and op-eds making the same arguments also proliferated even as Houston remained flooded and rescue efforts were still underway.
Conservatives and climate skeptics, including some scientists, disputed the narrative or criticized the media for seizing a crisis affecting millions to promote their climate alarmist agenda.
But CJR encouraged it. CJR Delacorte fellow Pete Vernon wrote on Aug. 30, that “climate change made Harvey more dangerous, and, encouragingly, many journalists and climate scientists are tackling the issue with nuance and clear arguments.”
Vernon praised Vox’s David Roberts for a “good overview” and what he called a “clear-eyed look at the issue” without pointing out Roberts’ significant and scary bias on the issue. Vernon failed to remind people this was the same David Roberts who, while working for Grist in 2006, had to apologize after saying “we should have war crimes trials for these bastards [climate skeptics] — some sort of climate Nuremberg.”
CJR also criticized conservatives and media outlets like The Daily Caller for challenging the climate hype in Harvey coverage, but promoted a handful of biased articles connecting the storm to climate change from The Guardian, The Washington Post and The New York Times.
Liberal billionaire George Soros has funded CJR, Columbia University’s journalism school and Columbia University.
