Hotter than hot, raging fires, and monster storms are our new normal. But the media, most of the time, refuses to look up! The 350NYC Media Task Force addresses this head on by pressuring the media for more frequent and accurate climate coverage in all categories. After all, all news is climate news: whether it’s the refugee crisis, food prices, or extreme weather events.
We collaborate with members of the media by providing science-based resources, sharing ideas, and pitching stories. We call them out on social media when they fail to cover climate like the crisis it is. This actually works: here’s a story from September 2020 on Atlantic hurricanes from two CNN meteorologists that makes no mention of climate change; after we repeatedly reached out, the story from a few months later makes this essential connection.
Finally, we spur the media industry to divest from the fossil fuel (oil, coal, gas) industry, the cause of the climate crisis. As we have repeatedly seen, it is impossible for the media to collect advertising dollars from the industry while covering them objectively.
The Climate Crisis calls for a new paradigm in the 4th Estate.
