It seems shakeups in green reporting are all the rage this year. First we heard that NYT is closing its environment desk: New York Times Dismantles Its Environment Desk
Then last Friday late in the day (5:10PM EST) we got an offhanded announcement that NYT is closing its Green Blog.
Now today we learn that WaPo is moving out their long time eco-reporter from the environment beat, reportedly over conflict of interest issues.
From Junkscience.com:
Victory: JunkScience forces Juliet Eilperin out of WaPo environment beat
JunkScience has been after her since 2009, with WaPo ombudsman support. No doubt she will deny… just like she did her conflict of interest, until it became too much even for the Post.
Click for the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Even the outgoing WaPo ombudsman Patrick Pexton, in one of his last acts, agreed with JunkScience.
I read the WP a lot and comment there frequently. She was always more advocate than reporter. She often tried to make her reports fair, but you could tell she was struggling. It’s the assumptions that are ingrained in the reports that gave her away. People like her start with a system of belief and they assume no one notices. I wish her well, but really, her reports were more like editorials than objective journalism.
Sigh. When I was a kid and up until I was a graduate student I held science in a “above the rest of society” view. After 2 years of graduate physics research I realized that just isn’t true. Now, I see climate science taken to the utmost political levels of degradation and prostitution and it makes me sick as a scientist. Even my University colleagues that are not climate scientist are poisoned by this. At least some of these news outlets are recognizing the problems and dealing with it.
Now if only the BBC would get rid of the arch alarmist Harrabin…
She’s being assigned to cover the White House, which puts a different spin on things as reported by JunkScience.
She’s not being demoted, she’s going to cover the White House from now on. Figures. WaPo probably saw her conflicts of interest as a feature, not a bug.
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,ha……… I know it’s a sin to gloat, but I just can’t help it!!
Juliet Eilperin out of WaPo environment beat
and into the White House beat. (Politico)
To me that seems like a promotion.
Look, everything is ok. She is a “progressive”. Conflict of interest, heck, even outright lying is perfectly acceptable if it is “for the cause”. There is nothing so hypocritical than the American “progressive”. They have a multibillion dollar “environmental” industry to protect here.
jorgekafkazar says:
March 4, 2013 at 11:55 am
“She’s being assigned to cover the White House, which puts a different spin on things as reported by JunkScience.”
That would be her natural “home.”
I guess she’s going from one lalaland to another…
OK. I’ll bite. What on earth is that on her head? 🙂
We finally have proof positive of a conspiracy involving major media and an organization on the Left. No, I will not excuse WAPO. I will not because the matter was forced upon them by their ombudsman. The duty to “nip in the bud” this kind of activity lay with the lady’s editor and, therefore, with WAPO management. As for the Leftist organization, does anyone doubt that they lie, cheat, and steal to win?
Bring it on Associated Press! Your Seth Berenstein is next. The folks must surely realize that the AP feeds stories to all member papers, which is essentially all papers, and the employed enviro, er, reporter is Mr. Berenstein. He is consequently a widely published individual. The AP thus efficiently disseminates IPCC, etc. propaganda/scare stories through it’s reporter, written by it’s reporter, to hundreds of small papers whose only source of wire-based environment reporting is from the AP. That is scary.
Perhaps there might be an opening for Mike MacCracken, the seemingly idle Director of the prestigiously well funded Climate Institute since he spends most of his time peddling Connolley’s Wikipedia and the IPCC on Yahoo?
global warming causes that
noloctd says:
March 4, 2013 at 12:08 pm
OK. I’ll bite. What on earth is that on her head? 🙂
…………………………
Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s climate change wot dunnit !!!
From UAH satellite monitoring (Roy Spencer) :
Our Version 5.5 global average lower tropospheric temperature (LT) anomaly for February, 2013 is +0.18 deg. C, a large decrease from January’s +0.50 deg. C.
noloctd, Vidal Sassoon has stated global warming is causing the serious frizzies. Get used to more Catastrophic Hair Change. I myself have suffered it over the years.
Sending her to the White House beat is quite a plum assignment for any journalist, so conflict of interest on the environment beat has worked out nicely for Eilperin. Her husband Andrew Light is big with Podesta’s Center for American Progress (sic). He is supposed to be an expert in ethics (PhD and Professor of Ethics), yet she couldn’t seem to get any proper advice on disclosure and conflict of interest.
There’s a potential change at EPA, too. From Waste and Recycling News:
“Update (10:35 a.m.): President Obama has nominated Gina McCarthy to be the next administrator of the U.S. EPA.”
http://www.wasterecyclingnews.com/article/20130304/NEWS08/130309984
Extreme climate disruption?
Eilperin? She believed and reported unquestioningly whatever the latest alarming fashion was in climate science, so she is already a suitable expert for gobbling up uncritically what our Prez the Barack does so readily dictate.
She doesn’t need any briefing on background for her new assignment . . . . . a smart WaPo cost cutting reassignment.
John
Oblarny loves women around him, doesn’t he.
beesaman says:
March 4, 2013 at 11:46 am
Now if only the BBC would get rid of the arch alarmist Harrabin…
The BBC would need to totally empty their building of staff to make a difference. Patten, the DG did say today that the BBC can’t go on like this so they are probably going to become even more advocate and activist.
Why does that woman have a poodle on her head?
Who LISTENS to these self deluded fools? Answer: Self deluded fools. Qui Pro Quo…
Brian R says:
March 4, 2013 at 1:32 pm
“Why does that woman have a poodle on her head?”
Probably a member of “the Union of Concerned Scientists”;
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/02/26/kenji-sniffs-out-stupid-claims-by-the-union-of-concerned-scientists/#more-80756
It was either her of Seth Borenstein to get the job… /sarc
Reporter = mouthpiece.
I wonder if the reason the NYTImes and Washpost are scaling down their environmental departments is due to them knowing that Obama is going to use Executive privilege to implement all (or most) of the changes/rules/regulations that environmentalists want?
Skiphil says:
March 4, 2013 at 12:52 pm
“Her husband Andrew Light is big with Podesta’s Center for American Progress (sic). He is supposed to be an expert in ethics (PhD and Professor of Ethics), yet she couldn’t seem to get any proper advice on disclosure and conflict of interest.”
In this day, being a Professor of Ethics might mean only that you can recite any passage of Marx at the drop of a hat. Marx did not cover disclosure or conflict of interest.
One less deck chair on the Titanic.
Juliet Eilperin is a woman?
a parody starts/
Confidential Memo
From: Whitehouse Press Secretary
To: Editor WaPo
Subject: Ditch Wapo Do
Hey, the First Lady thought it would be great if I make Juliet an appointment at the First Lady’s favorite hair stylist as a prerequisite for Juliet starting on her new Whitehouse gig. The hair stylist will pre-consult with the FL before the appointment.
We don’t want any potential for an intra-WH battle of the ‘do’s here.
parody ends /
John
hmmm!
4 March: BBC: Czech President Vaclav Klaus faces treason charge
The upper house voted to refer the president to the constitutional court to rule on whether he had violated the constitution with a New Year amnesty.
The wide-ranging measures were controversial as they resulted in multiple high-profile corruption cases being suspended.
Mr Klaus’s term as president of the country is due to end on Thursday.
Thirty-eight senators in the 81-seat house, controlled by the left-wing opposition, voted to impeach the president, with 30 voting against. Only the Senate has such power in the Czech legal system.
The worst punishment he faces is the loss of his presidential job, a role the 71-year-old must relinquish later this week having served two terms in office…
The BBC’s Rob Cameron, in Prague, says that the Senate is dominated by leftist opponents of Mr Klaus, whose departure from office is imminent so this vote is a symbolic – albeit dramatic – end to his presidency.
Our correspondent adds that it is still unclear as to what exactly a guilty verdict would mean as Mr Klaus will no longer be in office when the constitutional court delivers its ruling, and the biggest sanction he would face is the loss of his presidential pension.
But, he adds, it would certainly be a stain on what is already a rather mixed legacy.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21660234
given BBC World Sce radio report i heard last nite said Klaus spoke against “popular” issues like “global warming”, it’s funny the above piece doesn’t mention his CAGW scepticism. however, this companion piece does, yet claims Klaus was a populist, meaning his views were “popular”, i would have thought:
4 March: BBC: Why Vaclav Klaus divides Czechs
And if you look at his presidential tenure since 2003, you find so much populism and Europhobia…
His views on the environment are known around the world. He is the only head of state to openly challenge the assertion of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that global warming is man-made…
No-one knows what role he will play in future beyond overseeing a think-tank – the Vaclav Klaus Institute – in Prague. Possibly he himself does not know. But few believe he is ready to give up waging his personal war – against European integration, against environmentalism, against misquotation…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20961896
Theo Goodwin says:
March 4, 2013 at 12:08 pm
We finally have proof positive of a conspiracy involving major media and an organization on the Left. No, I will not excuse WAPO. I will not because the matter was forced upon them by their ombudsman. The duty to “nip in the bud” this kind of activity lay with the lady’s editor and, therefore, with WAPO management. As for the Leftist organization, does anyone doubt that they lie, cheat, and steal to win?
———————————————
Conspiritorial (is that spelling right? For some strange reason I always seem to want to type constipational… can’t think why.) Ideation! Counterfactual Thinking! Thought Crime abounds! Tsk Tsk! Better watch out, Cook, Mann, and Lewandowsky are coming with their goon squad of twitterbot AGW_AI’s in Roomba robot bodies to clean you up, just as soon as they finish with Steve McIntyre!
Brian R says:
March 4, 2013 at 1:32 pm
Umm… because it won’t fit in her purse?
(WaPo stands for “washed poodle”, ya know…)
Thanks rocky Rd and others the comments on the hair do are priceless Mondays are always good for a laugh around the water cooler 🙂
Here’s a slight relevant quote, from Lawrence Durrell’s “The Unspeakable Attaché,” in Stiff Upper Lip:
noloctd says:
March 4, 2013 at 12:08 pm
It appears to be a Black Puli.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Black+Puli&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=zTg1UYTGEoKi2wXHsoHQDg&biw=924&bih=488&sei=0jg1UdTHA42A2AX0xoDoCA
GeoLurking says:
I defer to GeoLurking–he wins identifying the “doggie-do” contest. 😉
Never heard of her, so went to YouTube… Geez, that woman Never shuts up and is completely clueless. WaPo fire her for that? Nah, they must’ve gotten sick of that WTH hairdo.
That’s not a do; that’s a don’t.
Maybe she should just switch careers and try something new. Maybe she could be a Publicist. Since Academia is letting Mikey Mann twist in the wind without any support, he needs a good Publicist.
Or maybe Mikey can get Dennis Rodman to support him and then tell everyone what a wonderful guy he really is.
OK. I’ll bite. What on earth is that on her head? :)…………………It’s her hair trying to run away from her “green” brain!!!!
Just shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic.. I don’t see this as some ethical choice by the Post. They are not acting on complaints about her bias, they are acting on declining clicks on her green articles and other market feedback showing the public is not interested. She will still keep up her green spin, working it into as many articles as possible on her new beat.
Good. She gets to go to the White House pool where she will be treated with utmost contempt and essentially ignored by the epitome of her own kind. It is ever thus, it seems, according to Koestler and Orwell.
It’s “Juliet” a funny name for a guy?
Mark Bofill says:
March 4, 2013 at 2:27 pm
“Better watch out, Cook, Mann, and Lewandowsky are coming with their goon squad of twitterbot AGW_AI’s in Roomba robot bodies to clean you up, just as soon as they finish with Steve McIntyre!”
Will they argue that it a case of groupthink? They would have to show that Juliet does not talk to her husband or her editor. Looking at her, I guess that is possible. Still doesn’t say much for WAPO.
If that’s hair on her head, where has her head been?
We are all going to hell for having so much fun with this.
Keep up the good work.
Skiphil says:
March 4, 2013 at 12:52 pm
“Her husband Andrew Light is big with Podesta’s Center for American Progress (sic). He is supposed to be an expert in ethics (PhD and Professor of Ethics), yet she couldn’t seem to get any proper advice on disclosure and conflict of interest.”
Search the internet and see what passes for ethic at the major universities. I have discovered that they feel proud of the actions of Peter Gleick and even teach courses on civil disobedience. Here are a few examples.
http://blogs.law.widener.edu/climate/
http://rockblogs.psu.edu/rockethics/
Louis Hooffstetter says:
March 4, 2013 at 6:46 pm
“We are all going to hell for having so much fun with this.
Keep up the good work.”
Oh, I see. That’s why there aren’t many posts. I assumed it was Juliet.
I knew I would be able to use this one day.
That’s an “oh no you di-ent!”
Oh, the Humanity!
Not only does the NY Times close its green desk, while WaPo boots Juliet Eilperin out of her activist climate beat, but now the Editorial Board of WaPo has taken a stand in favor of the Keystone XL pipeline. Hacktivists everywhere must be apoplectic (they are not going all skeptic, they strongly endorse a “carbon tax” but they recognize that the fight over Keystone XL is stupid):
“Environmentalists are fighting the wrong battle”
“…Under anti-Keystone activists’ very best scenario — Keystone XL and all other new pipeline capacity restricted — they could hope to reduce Canadian oil-sands production by only 2 to 4 percent by 2030. As long as the world demands oil, energy companies will find it profitable to extract and transport their product in all sorts of ways. If new pipelines are out of the picture, companies will rely more on rail, the use of which they could easily ramp up.”
“The analysis underscores the extent to which activists have trumped up a relatively mundane infrastructure issue into the premier environmental fight of this decade, leading to big marches and acts of civil disobedience to advance a cause that is worthy of neither. The activists ought to pick more important fights. Until they do, the president should ignore their pressure….”
Careful not step on WaPo.
Early moulting is how small furry animals adapt to climate change. It’s worse than we thought–and happening faster than expected.
Both the NYT and the WaPo changes remind me a bit of Hillary and her results in the Middle East. I keep waiting for a video ad cataloging the chaos there, with Hillary proudly saying something like “my work here is done”. Damage done, accept rewards, move on to the next.
Appologies for this…
But in that pic, she is almost the spitting image of the “Mom” character in Ramstein’s “Mein Teil” video. The drummer, in drag, did the actual performance. Lighten the hair up and shes a dead ringer for “her”.
This is stupid. Where is the good news? Obongo and all the democrats announced climate change is the next agenda. It’s safe to say all climate related legislation will be ramped through after the elections so the republicans you support will not get any heat from their constituency for caving in. The fake conservative party will always let you down as they did with the health care bill, immigration, education, etc….
On C-span the liberals and their own promoted ‘professionals’ kept creaming their pants and gloating about clean energy jobs, fighting climate change, saving the earth and other pie on the sky liberal beliefs.
I don’t see the point of this blog and this stupid feel good story post. If the point of this blog was to stop the insanity of climate legislation, well you lost. And the gay, conservative, let’s keep it professional, feel good attitude is the reason.
CO2 omission is an indirect measurement of wealth. By cutting down CO2 omission, the democrat party is really saying through a euphemism, we need to cut off some of your wealth. That is the goal of those initiate these policies whether the talking heads on tv that support this position realize it or not. Wattsupwiththat could have taken this position, instead it kept feeding the ‘rogue scientist’ nonsense story. This is why the conservative faggot approach will never work.
I don’t know what Anthony’s goal is, but all I see is just another conservative blog that fails to conserve anything.
Beesaman: If the BBC were to eject all those with bias, there would be very few people left! It’s endemic.
[snip]
People are fed up by environmental alarmists claiming that the sky is falling all the time that theyI simply are starting to ignore them in increasing numbers. The Washington Post (as well as the New York Times) see this and are acting accordingly.
Eilperin did not major in science nor journalism.
So, how did Eilperin land a position with a major establishment media outlet as an environmental reporter in the first place? Her degree is in politics…oh, wait…never mind.