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gc · 09-08-2008, 01:49 PM

U.K. network rebuked over global warming film - International Herald Tribune

U.K. network rebuked over global warming film
By Andrew C. Revkin
Published: July 21, 2008

The British television watchdog agency has rebuked the country's Channel 4 for "unfair treatment" of several scientists and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in "The Great Global Warming Swindle," a controversial documentary that aired last year and had been seen around the world on the Internet and DVD.

But the agency, the Office of Communication, concluded in a report issued Monday that the program, while containing "intemperate" characterizations of the dominant scientific view that humans are the main force warming the planet, "did not materially mislead the audience so as to cause harm or offense."

The 72-minute documentary, written and directed by an independent filmmaker, Martin Durkin, focuses on a small group of scientists who hold widely varying views on the causes and consequences of recent global warming, but who all reject the idea that human-caused warming poses big dangers.

Since its release, the program has been widely circulated by opponents of restrictions on greenhouse gases and sharply attacked by scientific groups.

Criticism has been particularly sharp over the film's assertions that the depiction of consensus on human-caused warming is a willful deception. One particularly jarring line of narration is: "Everywhere you are told that man-made climate change is proved beyond doubt. But you are being told lies."

While criticizing such statements, the regulatory body said the documentary was adequately framed as a polemic. Given the large quantity of television focused on the dominant scientific conclusions about global warming, the agency said the program had a place on television. The station will be required to broadcast the results of the inquiry, which was triggered by several hundred complaints from scientists and viewers.

This conclusion was welcomed by the television channel but sharply criticized by several scientists, including Carl Wunsch, an ocean and climate expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Wunsch appeared in the documentary and later said his comments were taken out of context and made him appear to question the seriousness of human-driven warming.

While the report upheld Wunsch's complaint that he was treated unfairly, he said the program clearly misled the public in harmful ways. "'Swindle' raises the noise level and politicizes an extremely complicated science problem without enlightening anyone," he said in an e-mail message. "A film claiming to be a science documentary that is really a nonscientific political tract is poisonous."

Executives at Channel 4 embraced the findings and defended their right to show the film.

Hamish Mykura, head of documentaries for the station, said, using the acronym for the watchdog, "Ofcom's ruling explicitly recognizes Channel 4's right to show the program and the paramount importance of broadcasters being able to challenge orthodoxies and explore controversial subject matter."

09-08-2008, 01:49 PM	#1 (permalink)
gc Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 612	UK station rebuked on climate film U.K. network rebuked over global warming film - International Herald Tribune U.K. network rebuked over global warming film By Andrew C. Revkin Published: July 21, 2008 The British television watchdog agency has rebuked the country's Channel 4 for "unfair treatment" of several scientists and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in "The Great Global Warming Swindle," a controversial documentary that aired last year and had been seen around the world on the Internet and DVD. But the agency, the Office of Communication, concluded in a report issued Monday that the program, while containing "intemperate" characterizations of the dominant scientific view that humans are the main force warming the planet, "did not materially mislead the audience so as to cause harm or offense." The 72-minute documentary, written and directed by an independent filmmaker, Martin Durkin, focuses on a small group of scientists who hold widely varying views on the causes and consequences of recent global warming, but who all reject the idea that human-caused warming poses big dangers. Since its release, the program has been widely circulated by opponents of restrictions on greenhouse gases and sharply attacked by scientific groups. Criticism has been particularly sharp over the film's assertions that the depiction of consensus on human-caused warming is a willful deception. One particularly jarring line of narration is: "Everywhere you are told that man-made climate change is proved beyond doubt. But you are being told lies." While criticizing such statements, the regulatory body said the documentary was adequately framed as a polemic. Given the large quantity of television focused on the dominant scientific conclusions about global warming, the agency said the program had a place on television. The station will be required to broadcast the results of the inquiry, which was triggered by several hundred complaints from scientists and viewers. This conclusion was welcomed by the television channel but sharply criticized by several scientists, including Carl Wunsch, an ocean and climate expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Wunsch appeared in the documentary and later said his comments were taken out of context and made him appear to question the seriousness of human-driven warming. While the report upheld Wunsch's complaint that he was treated unfairly, he said the program clearly misled the public in harmful ways. "'Swindle' raises the noise level and politicizes an extremely complicated science problem without enlightening anyone," he said in an e-mail message. "A film claiming to be a science documentary that is really a nonscientific political tract is poisonous." Executives at Channel 4 embraced the findings and defended their right to show the film. Hamish Mykura, head of documentaries for the station, said, using the acronym for the watchdog, "Ofcom's ruling explicitly recognizes Channel 4's right to show the program and the paramount importance of broadcasters being able to challenge orthodoxies and explore controversial subject matter."