Media Bias: What They Don’t Tell You is Often the Story

The media continue to report narratives (theirs) instead of stories. Here’s a headline you didn’t see, but should have: “Sea Ice Returns to 1979 Levels: Growth Is Fastest Rate of Change Ever.” From the notice at Daily Tech:

Thanks to a rapid rebound in recent months, global sea ice levels now equal those seen 29 years ago, when the year 1979 also drew to a close.

Ice levels had been tracking lower throughout much of 2008, but rapidly recovered in the last quarter. In fact, the rate of increase from September onward is the fastest rate of change on record, either upwards or downwards. The data is being reported by the University of Illinois’s Arctic Climate Research Center, and is derived from satellite observations of the Northern and Southern hemisphere polar regions.

Surely, this story was worth with reporting prominently as it is relevant to the debate over the existence and/or causes of global warming. But the media’s narrative—as opposed the the reality—holds that there is no debate; it’s getting hotter and something must be done!. This story counters the narrative. Hence, we heard the sound of crickets from the major outlets.

Meanwhile Pravda is predicting a catastrophic ice age. Can’t we stop it with the terror headlines already? Weather changes and nobody can really do anything about it.

Back to the point: C’mon journalists—stop being advocates and do your jobs! If you will just follow LAPD Sergeant Joe Friday’s advice when questioning witnesses (boy, am I aging myself), and give us “the facts, Ma’am. Just the facts,” media can rebound. We need our newspapers!