Media coverage of the Ofcom ruling on a complaint leveled at a UK documentary called โThe 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 โmaterially 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: โA 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: โChannel 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: โBritish 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: โChannel 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: โThe 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: โOfcom’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: โThe 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: โA 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: โThe 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: โChannel 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: Todayโs Ofcom bulletin confirms the ruling on the mistreatment of leading scientists and the IPCC in the โGreat 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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