Lance Bennett, PhD, Professor, Communications and Political Science

1. Center for Communication & Civic Engagement Lance Bennett, Director www.engagedcitizen.org Information ~ Technology ~ Community @

2. Manufacturing Doubts about Science How Media Spin Undermines Engagement with Public Problems (smoking, AIDS, global warming etc.)

4. The Case of Climate Change

5. 19 % who believe what corporations say about climate change

6. 18 % who believe that climate change is real, human caused and harmful (ie, who believe what most scientists say)

7. …only 18 percent strongly believe that climate change is REAL, HUMAN CAUSED, and HARMFUL… Survey by Nature Conservancy & EcoAmerica (Oct 2008)

8. Why is science not winning the battle against climate change denial?

9. The News: What to Believe?

11. typical US news report

12. the part of the story that gets buried

13. who is stirring up the controversy? since publics are skeptical of direct corporate propaganda…. corporations hire PR firms support think tanks (which support “experts”) influence politicians and parties all to create public doubt about science (to support political inaction)

14. Round 1: (1980s - 1990s) use PR to turn climate change and its advocates into a joke Western Fuels Assn, National Coal Assn & Edison Electric created front org Info Council on Environment (ICE) ~ hired PR firms and scientists to create misinformation campaigns “If the earth is getting warmer why is Minneapolis getting colder?” ‘Some say the earth is warming. Some also said the earth is flat” but scientific consensus on human causes grew and ICE was exposed as direct corporate front

17. Partisan press in other countries more central in public discussion - e.g. UK report on who funds the skeptics Independent, Feb 7, 2010

18. creating plausible deniability Independent, Feb 7, 2010

20. 130 were published by conservative think tanks or authors working for them

21. websites of 50 major conservative think tanks

22. 45 promote environmentally skeptical policies

23. 28 received money from Exxon aloneSources: Jacques & Freeman, Environmental Politics (2008); HogganClimate Cover-Up (2009)

24. and so, expert news sources multiply Christopher Horner: uncovers socialist communist green conspiracy

26. Senior Fellow, Competitive Enterprise Institute

27. Represented CEI in lawsuits against the government to stop distribution of reports on effects of climate change in the US

29. WAIT! Science is not about certainty!! How to respond to opposition demands for certainty? Scientists not good at PR or performing in news dramas (think: Flock of Dodos) Besides, scientists often think that deniers do not merit a response

30. Result –> Manufactured Controversy“Manufactroversy” Cases where “scientific controversy does not exist inside the scientific community but is successfully constructed for a public audience in order to achieve specific political ends” ~Leah Ceccarelli UW rhetoric scholar Think: Smoking, AIDS, Intelligent Design, WMDs in Iraq Global warming (human causes, tipping points)

31. politicians align with the Interests

32. politicians defending science appear partisan

33. news reports the political controversy Study of 928 articles on “global climate change” in peer reviewed science journals (1993-2003) found no major disagreement on human activity causing climate change Naomi Oreskes, Science (2005) Study of 4 leading US newspapers 1998 – 2002 found 53% of articles included a denial or challenge to scientific claims Boykoff & Boykoff. J Environ Change (2003)

34. why does the mainstream news report two sides of a one sided story? US Journalism filters reality through power in Washington J norm of balance invites SPINNING another side Political Interests magnify claims with PR News feeds on drama and conflict Result: News resembles reality TV

35. The Political Result Polls Source: Pew Survey Oct 2009 Public Confusion –> Cover for Political Inaction

36. Dealing with Global Warming at bottom of US public priorities Pew American Priorities survey 2009

37. No surprise: US opinion politically driven Source: Nature Conservancy - EcoAmerica Poll, Oct 2008

38. US vs world opinion Source: PIPA – Univ MD Poll 18,000 people, 19 nations July 2009

40. 28% of internet users customize news feeds

41. 37% of internet users contribute to creation of news (commenting, distributing to others, posting on SN sites)Pew Internet & American Life Survey Mar 1, 2010

42. news organizations fade in a changing Mediascape: top US websites (monthly visitors) 1. Google (134 million) 2. Yahoo (123) 5. Wikipedia (76) 7. Youtube (70) 8. Myspace (67) 10. Ebay (59) 12. Facebook (45) 15. blogspot (43) 17. craigslist (40) 26. CNN (29) 30. blogger (24) 31. flickr (22)… 42. N Y Times (16) search, social networking, publishing source: Quantcast 11/20/08

43. Future of News 60% get news from combo of on and offline sources 33% of cell phone owners get news on phones 28% of internet users customize news feeds 37% of internet users contribute to creation of news (commenting, distributing to others, posting on SN sites) – 75% of online news users do this 70% feel it is overwhelming Pew Internet & American Life Survey Mar 1, 2010

44. becoming a citizen expert using the power of digital media

45. meet LiisaAntilla

46. some questions I would like to ask Liisa What’s your day job? Tell us how you became interested in communication about climate change? What kinds of things have you done? What ideas do you have for people who are dissatisfied with mainstream media reporting?

47. Liisa’s link list www.oneblueworld.blogspot.com (Liisa’s blog) http://cses.washington.edu/cig/ (UW Climate Impacts Group) www.yaleclimatemediaforum.org (Yale climate/media research) http://environment.yale.edu/profile/leiserowitz/ (Anthony Leiserowitz, Yale expert on public opinion of climate change) www.un.org/wcm/content/site/climatechange/gateway (UN: climate change) http://www.planetark.org/enviro-news/ (Reuters Environmental news hub) www.exxonsecrets.org (Greenpeace database on anti-climate funding) http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/climate/stop-esso (Greenpeace UK Stop Esso [Exxon] campaign – Liisa interned here 2003-4) www.realclimate.org (blog run by international climate experts) www.grist.org (Seattle based environmental online magazine.) www.earthequitynews.blogspot.com (Earth Equity News from Climate Crisis Coalition – mainly climate news stories) http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/ (NYT enviro blog started by Andrew Revkin – who, as of 1/29/10 is still blogging) www.climate.org (nonprofit working on policymaking) http://www.nwenergy.org/ (Local clean energy coalition) www.heatisonline.org (climate news etc. by author/former journalist Ross Gelbspan) www.climatesolutions.org (Seattle based group working on regional climate technology solutions) http://stephenschneider.stanford.edu/ (Stanford climate scientist/author with interest in media/communication) http://www.350.org/en (350.org) http://www.nrdcactionfund.org/thisisourmoment/ (NRDC Action Fund) http://energyactioncoalition.org/ (Energy Action Coalition/Powershift activist group) http://www.climatenetwork.org/ (Climate Action Network-CAN International) http://www.fiacc.net/ (European “Future International Action on Climate Change Network”) http://www.globalclimatecampaign.org/ (Global Climate Campaign) http://canadianclimateaction.wordpress.com/ (Canadians for Climate Action) http://ec.europa.eu/climateaction/index_en.htm (European Commission - Climate Action) http://climatechallenge.org/ (Climate Challenge.org)

48. Liisa’s network

50. Join digital info-action networks

51. Debate the validity of special interests buying the national conversation

53. who would listen to this?

55. Are there other ways to organize the economy?

56. green tax incentives

57. tax (and regulate) financial transactions

58. change trade policies: to stop exploiting the environment & promote sustainable communities north and south

59. examine the effects of quarterly profit pressures on our capacity to value the future