Media coverage slams the Great Global Warming Swindle

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Media coverage of the Ofcom ruling on a complaint leveled at a UK documentary called โ€œThe Great Global Warming Swindle,โ€ has been quick andย 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 climateย science.

As Dave Rado, the UK citizen behind the official complaint, aptly putsย 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 theย field.โ€

UK media has been quick out the gate reporting that while the OfCom ruling did not find that the Swindle โ€œmaterially mislead viewers so as to cause harm or offence,โ€ it did misrepresent the views of some of the world’s most distinguishedย 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 faceย today.

Here’s a complete round-up of media coverage on the OfCom decision so far. We will add to the list throughout theย day.

Documentary broke Broadcastingย Code

Excerpt: โ€œA controversial Channel 4 documentary about global warming misrepresented the views of the Government’s former chief scientist, Ofcomย ruled.โ€

Channel 4 censured for misrepresenting scientists on climateย change

Excerpt: โ€œChannel 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 hasย ruled.โ€

Global warming documentary: The Ofcom report at aย glance

Excerpt: Ofcom says it received 265 complaints about the factual accuracy of Channel 4’s documentary, The Great Global Warmingย Swindle.

British regulator says global warming documentary violated TV broadcastย code

Excerpt: โ€œBritish broadcast regulator Ofcom says a documentary challenging majority scientific opinion on global warming broke several rules by treating some of its interview subjectsย unfairly.โ€

Opinion: A reluctantย whistle-blower

Excerpt: โ€œChannel 4’s The Great Global Warming Swindle documentary, broadcast in March 2007, broke Ofcom rules, the UK media regulator hasย ruled.โ€

Climate documentary ‘brokeย rules’

Excerpt: โ€œThe Great Global Warming Swindle, a controversial Channel 4 film, broke Ofcom rules, the media regulatorย says.โ€

Climate program swindledย viewers

Excerpt: โ€ 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, hasย found.โ€

The public has beenย swindled

Excerpt: โ€œOfcom’s censure of Channel 4 is flawed: The Great Global Warming Swindle clearly misled viewers about climate change.โ€

Ofcom can’t take the heat of climateย debate

Excerpt: โ€œThe climate change lobby tends to react like scalded cats should anyone have the temerity to question their assertion that global warming is a man-madeย phenomenon.โ€

Channel 4 mislead viewers with climate changeย documentary

Excerpt: โ€œA 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 Climateย Change.โ€

C4 climate programme breachedย rules

Excerpt: โ€œThe media regulator has found that Channel 4’s documentary The Great Global Warming Swindle broke a number of broadcastingย rules.โ€

Ofcom: Channel 4 misrepresented scientists’ views in climate changeย programme

Excerpt: โ€œChannel 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 ruledย today.โ€

What materially matters: OfCom andย climate

Excerpt: Todayโ€™s Ofcom bulletin confirms the ruling on the mistreatment of leading scientists and the IPCC in the โ€˜Great Global Warming Swindleโ€™, broadcast on Channel 4 back in early 2007. I covered the background to the Great Global Warming Swindle coverage in a previous post.


For a more in-depth look, check out DeSmog’s comprehensive research database on the climate denialย industry.

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Kevin is a contributor and strategic adviser to DeSmog. He runs the digital marketing agency Spake Media House. Named a โ€œGreen Heroโ€ by Rolling Stone Magazine and one of the โ€œTop 50 Tweetersโ€ on climate change and environment issues, Kevin has appeared in major news media outlets around the world for his work on digital campaigning. Kevin has been involved in the public policy arena in both the United States and Canada for more than a decade. For five years he was the managing editor of DeSmogBlog.com. In this role, Kevinโ€™s research into the โ€œclimate denial industryโ€ and the right-wing think tank networks was featured in news media articles around the world. He is most well known for his ground-breaking research into David and Charles Kochโ€™s massive financial investments in the Republican and tea partyย networks. Kevin is the first person to be designated a โ€œCertified Expertโ€ on theย political and community organizing platformย NationBuilder. Prior to DeSmog, Kevin worked in various political and government roles. He was Senior Advisor to the Minister of State for Multiculturalism and a Special Assistant to the Minister of State for Asia Pacific, Foreign Affairs for the Government of Canada. Kevin also worked in various roles in the British Columbia provincial government in the Office of the Premier and the Ministry of Health. In 2008 Kevin co-founded a groundbreaking new online election tool called Vote for Environment which was later nominated for a World Summit Award in recognition of the worldโ€™s best e-Content and innovative ICTย applications. Kevin moved to Washington, DC in 2010 where he worked for two years as the Director of Online Strategy for Greenpeace USA and has since returned to his hometown of Vancouver, Canada.

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