Media coverage of the Ofcom ruling on a complaint leveled at a UK documentary called “The Great Global Warming Swindle,” has been quick and harsh.
And so it should be. We here at DeSmog have been relentless in debunking the misrepresentations of this climate change shock-u-mentary that appeared to be more about raising hackles and spreading misinformation than about reflecting the true state of climate science.
As Dave Rado, the UK citizen behind the official complaint, aptly puts it:
The programme seemed very convincing, but it systematically distorted the evidence on climate change and every other major topic it dealt with. It also misrepresented the motives and conduct of many dedicated researchers who work in the field.”
UK media has been quick out the gate reporting that while the OfCom ruling did not find that the Swindle “materially mislead viewers so as to cause harm or offence,” it did misrepresent the views of some of the world’s most distinguished scientists.
It is misrepresentation such as that ruled by OfCom to be contained in the Great Global Warming Swindle that has lead to unnecessary delay in action and confusion amongst the general public on the most important issue we face today.
Here’s a complete round-up of media coverage on the OfCom decision so far. We will add to the list throughout the day.
Documentary broke Broadcasting Code
Excerpt: “A controversial Channel 4 documentary about global warming misrepresented the views of the Government’s former chief scientist, Ofcom ruled.”
Channel 4 censured for misrepresenting scientists on climate change
Excerpt: “Channel 4 misrepresented the views of some of the world’s most distinguished scientists in a documentary claiming that global warming was a conspiracy, the broadcasting watchdog has ruled.”
Global warming documentary: The Ofcom report at a glance
Excerpt: Ofcom says it received 265 complaints about the factual accuracy of Channel 4’s documentary, The Great Global Warming Swindle.
British regulator says global warming documentary violated TV broadcast code
Excerpt: “British broadcast regulator Ofcom says a documentary challenging majority scientific opinion on global warming broke several rules by treating some of its interview subjects unfairly.”
Opinion: A reluctant whistle-blower
Excerpt: “Channel 4’s The Great Global Warming Swindle documentary, broadcast in March 2007, broke Ofcom rules, the UK media regulator has ruled.”
Climate documentary ‘broke rules’
Excerpt: “The Great Global Warming Swindle, a controversial Channel 4 film, broke Ofcom rules, the media regulator says.”
Climate program swindled viewers
Excerpt: ” THE controversial documentary The Great Global Warming Swindle misrepresented several leading climate scientists to try to convince people that human-induced climate change is a fraud, Britain’s broadcasting regulator, Ofcom, has found.”
The public has been swindled
Excerpt: “Ofcom’s censure of Channel 4 is flawed: The Great Global Warming Swindle clearly misled viewers about climate change.”
Ofcom can’t take the heat of climate debate
Excerpt: “The climate change lobby tends to react like scalded cats should anyone have the temerity to question their assertion that global warming is a man-made phenomenon.”
Channel 4 mislead viewers with climate change documentary
Excerpt: “A Scientist, in fact, a former Government Scientist, has sparked a controversial debate on whether the latest program he featured in caused viewers to be mislead on the documentary topic, of Climate Change.”
C4 climate programme breached rules
Excerpt: “The media regulator has found that Channel 4’s documentary The Great Global Warming Swindle broke a number of broadcasting rules.”
Ofcom: Channel 4 misrepresented scientists’ views in climate change programme
Excerpt: “Channel 4 misrepresented the views of a group of leading scientists and failed to act with ‘due impartiality’ in a controversial documentary on climate change last year, the broadcast regulator has ruled today.”
What materially matters: OfCom and climate
Excerpt: Today’s Ofcom bulletin confirms the ruling on the mistreatment of leading scientists and the IPCC in the ‘Great Global Warming Swindle’, broadcast on Channel 4 back in early 2007. I covered the background to the Great Global Warming Swindle coverage in a previous post.
