"Fisking" Climate Change Arguments: The Deniers Get Creative

authordefault
on

Amy Ridenourโ€™s newly redesigned National Centre for Public Policy Research blog (very stylish Amy; I like the gravitas suggested by yellowed book pages), features a great non sequiturial attack on the Independentย  for adding to its already exhaustive coverage of the climate changeย issue.

The best part of Amyโ€™s outburst is her use of the newly coined word fisk,ย about whichย Wikipedia saysย this:

โ€œThe term Fisking, or to Fisk, is a rightwing blogosphere term describing criticism that highlights perceived errors or other problems in a statement, article, or essay. It should be noted that these โ€œerrorsโ€ do not necessarily refer to factual inaccuracies, but more often to perceived inaccuracies in the analysis of presentedย facts.

โ€œIndeed, โ€œFiskingโ€ may appear, to those who do not share the viewpoint of the fisker, to be merely taking small parts of an article out of context and putting the worst possible interpretation on them, without regard to the connections between individualย points.โ€

If thatโ€™s not enough, both Ridenourโ€™s post and the whole Wikipedia article are worth a look. Wiki, especially,ย explores the etymology of fisk,ย paying appropriate homage to the journalist Robert Fisk, whose award-winning reporting originally earned the wrath the Ridenourโ€™s fellowย travellers.

Related Posts

Analysis
on

Investor call transcripts show that gas companies see the data centre build-out as their next growth sector, even as the energy transition accelerates.

Investor call transcripts show that gas companies see the data centre build-out as their next growth sector, even as the energy transition accelerates.
on

Sign up for our July 8 virtual conversation on combatting fossil fuels and fascism, keeping up with climate denial, and solving polluted information ecosystems.

Sign up for our July 8 virtual conversation on combatting fossil fuels and fascism, keeping up with climate denial, and solving polluted information ecosystems.
on

More farmed salmon will not necessarily bring better food security, say researchers.

More farmed salmon will not necessarily bring better food security, say researchers.
on

Clare Carlile's reporting was recognized under the โ€˜News Item of the Yearโ€™ award for revealing how UK government staffing shortages would harm the environment during a historic drought.

Clare Carlile's reporting was recognized under the โ€˜News Item of the Yearโ€™ award for revealing how UK government staffing shortages would harm the environment during a historic drought.