Guest post by Robert Zimmerman
If anyone had any doubt that the global warming movement is undergoing a serious collapse, this so-called news article from Spiegel Online, entitled “Naked bodies and a new Messiah: Green groups are trying to sex up climate change,” probably lays that doubt to rest. Key quote:
Environmentalists and scientists are concerned about the massive drop in public interest in the topic over the last year. Now they are looking for new strategies to turn the tide. They’re searching for so-called “mind bombs” — highly emotional images that reduce a complex problem down to one core message.
Sadly, the article never asks the fundamental question: What do “mind bombs” have to do with facts, data, and proving your theories are correct in the real world?
The answer of course is obvious: Nothing.
Every tactic outlined in the article above is either a superficial public relations stunt or an effort to spin facts so emotionally that the general public will be mesmerized into doing whatever the global warming activists want.
The article’s author, Axel Bojanowski, describes in very enthusiastic terms a variety of tactics the environmental movement is considering in order to influence the public debate. These include:
- An emotional appeal, such as using dramatic pictures (a dying polar bear, a drowned city) to change minds.
- Sex.
- The search for a new Messiah to replace Al Gore.
- A new scientific language. To quote:
“The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change also wants a more careful use of language. The international body sent scientists a code of conduct concerning their interactions with journalists. Scientists should avoid using words such as “risk” and “uncertainty” in interviews, the letter read, to prevent misunderstandings — and to keep from doing the climate protection movement any further damage.” [emphasis mine]
- And finally, a new kind of journalism, where journalists become a sort of propaganda wing of the environmental movement:
Climate activists have begun directing millions in funding into training programs for environmental journalists, with the goal of encouraging what’s known as “advocacy journalism.” This type of reporting is “pretty much dead in Europe,” says Markus Lehmkuhl, a media expert at Berlin’s Free University. British science journalist Alexander Kirby warns that journalists who remain neutral on the issue could endanger the cause of climate protection, but many of his colleagues refuse to take sides.
In the case of this particular story, Bojanowski seems particularly eager to be a propagandist. For example, I find it very revealing how he describes the horrific 10:10 environmental video, where young children were blown to bloody shreds for refusing to join an environmental campaign.
One commercial in a campaign by the British-based environmental organization 10:10 showed a teacher blowing up two students who were skeptical about cutting their carbon emissions, with fountains of blood spraying the others in the class. Other 10:10 videos have the same fate befalling recalcitrant office workers and footballers. But the campaign proved a dud — it sparked massive protests and was quickly withdrawn.
It is very clear Bojanowski never saw the 10:10 video, as everything he describes took place in one commercial, not several as he implies. To understand how badly he describes this “public service” ad, it is worth watching it again:
All in all, I’m not sure what disgusts me most: the desire of environmentalists to propagandize us, irrelevant of the facts, or the unwillingness of a professional journalist to do his job and ask some basic skeptical questions. Either way, the inability of these ideologues to deal with facts and openly debate the issues face-to-face provides us a clear signal of the coming collapse of their movement.
cross-posted at behindtheblack.com
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I can’t imagine anyone telling Einstein that he should avoid certain words that might do damage to the reputation of E=MC2 the only thing that can do damage to scientific theories is if they are factually incorrect.
hunter says:
January 4, 2011 at 1:27 pm
GK Chesterton, the British writer, looked at the science/social movement of his day and deconstructed it rather wel.
We can read what he wrote today in “Eugenics and Other Evils”
http://www.amazon.com/Eugenics-Other-Evils-G-Chesterton/dp/1587420066
It is literally possible to substitute ‘AGW’ for ‘eugenics’ in nearly everyplace the word is used in the book and it will make the same points about climate science he did about the perversion of biology called ‘eugenics’.
And the movement was huge- the leading governments, intellectuals, foundations, progressive groups, etc. whose successors now support AGW supported eugnics.
A very apt analogy! If you look at the history of Arhenius, the patron saint of the greenhouse effect, you will find that in his later years he was a leading exponent of eugenics with a clear six degrees of Kevin Bacon linkage to those folks who gave the theory its most evil application. It is doubly ironic, because the crowd which is so eager to trumpet his work is willing to dismiss out of hand the work of responsible present day researchers because they have pointed out the squalid nature of the science of ETS or other irrelevant peccadilloes.
K
I’ve GOTTA get offa this computer…
1. Vigilantfish. So true. Me, too! I loved ‘Wild Kingdom’ with Marlin Perkins (See? I’ve had my coffee in my NEW WUWT mug, so I can remember his name!) Ian and I laugh and laugh about Marlin (sp?) who kept throwin’ ‘Jim’ – go in there, Jim! ‘Go get’em’ Jim! that he’d always say as ‘Jim’ jumped/was thrown offa the boat and into some swamp they were ‘trolling’ on… I loved those films. Lived for ’em ’cause Cleveland, Ohio didn’t have much else goin’ for it in the mid-60’s…
2. AusieDan… mebbe my remembering ‘Marlin Perkins name’ was due to my brain shrinkage…??? Mebbe…the smaller it is…the ‘less’ I’ll have to go looking for things I’ve forgotten in those squiggly nooks an’ crannies??? Ohhh… Now I’m thinking of that googley eyed guy in Young Frankenstein… I gotta ‘get a grip’ so, let’s just end this so I’ll KEEP my job as a farmer’s wife….and say SOMETHING about Science, shall we?
I LOVE ALBERT EINSTEIN. (safe, ’cause he’s gone now) He was HUMBLE and he was self-effacing when in public (TAKE THE CUE, you WARMISTS!) and he did MOST of his ‘Best Work’ while he slept. Dreams ARE important. And, that man, gosh, we need MORE OF THOSE MEN AROUND HERE.
She’s sounding a challenge, Gentlemen (and ‘women’!) Let’s set the bar and FOR ONCE THIS soon to be WACKY YEAR… GO ‘UP’ FOR A CHANGE… RAISE THE BAR ‘UP’ ‘UP’ ‘UP’!
I’m talkin’ to ‘nose-bleed status’ of what SHOULD BE regular humans with (okay, SMALL) brains!!! ‘Cause GOSH, we only USE HOW MUCH??? WHAT;S THAT PERCENTAGE??? .07??? or some odd s**t like that…
Let’s learn how to RAISE THE BAR rather than continue to operate as they/these/those indoctrinated folks do by descending into pig slop. HAVE WE NO PRIDE/PRICE(?) GENTLEMEN??? I ask you. I BEG YOU. Please wherever you are in this wild wonderful globe. Let’s all ‘become Jim’ and let’s get outta the BOATS and show others how to do this stuff called LIFE.
Where’s Monckton when ya need ’em…??? Hope he found some bananas for that hotel…
Inquiringly, and soon to be ‘swimmingly’…
C.L. Thorpe
“…The search for a new Messiah to replace Al Gore…”
Behold, the Messiah of Climate Opportunism:
http://www.energytribune.com/live_images/ET021609_main.jpg
Messiah Complex: A mental condition wherein person believes himself to be the saviour of a group, a time period, or in an extreme case, the world.
No, it’s a younger Robert Zimmerman, who runs an interesting science website called Beyond the Black,
http://behindtheblack.com/
and turns up fairly regularly (usually between 11:30 PM and midnight Eastern Time) on John Bachelor’s most excellent radio program (available online from WABC radio in NYC, and from other stations around the nation), where he and John frequently discuss the latest revelations from WUWT. Yes, climate realism is on the radio!
/Mr Lynn
Looks like a time for some pre-emption. I think the deniers need to come up with our own mind bombs for the general public. I am sure the talented leaders here could come up with some great ones. Have a whole page dedicated to them.
Um excuse me, but where are the naked hippie chicks?
Pete says:
January 4, 2011 at 1:58 pm
Have you ever thought about the possibility that this kind of spin, the emotional and symbolic staging of anthropogenic climate change are only necessary because there are so many people (especially in the US) falling for the lies of climate-change deniers?
Pete, We keep hearing this term “climate-change deniers”. But who or what is a climate-change denier? I don’t think there are many (if any) on this forum who deny that the climate is changing, so what is your definition of a climate-change denier?
Chill, JKS. shhh…an’ try to ‘Chill Out’ and put your fantasy on ‘pause’ a moment, kiddo.
Those ‘naked hippie chicks’ have been ‘laundered’ and are either dead from O.D.-ing or are in the U.S. Govt. now or are heading up NGOs – and are ‘now’ sportin’ nifty navy blue suits, with their ‘fairly butch’ lookin’ hair cuts. They’re also ALL in their late 60’s to mid-70’s (temp.-wise, too) and there’s not enough Boxtox GLOBALLY to get them lookin’ anywhere like ‘fine’ ever again. Sorry to burst your ‘Bubble’…but, burst – they must. And, even THAT’S been happenin’ on a global scale a heck of a lot lately, Right? Now…their granddaughters…? Nope. Prayerfully, they’re smarter than their neolithic neanderthal nannas…
But, ‘kudos’ for darin’ to dream – anyway
For over 50 years I have been a denier of anthropogenic global cooling.
For over 30 years I have been a denier of anthropogenic global warming.
In all that time I have never been a denier of climate change as I have been paying attention to the weather / climate change from year to year for well over 60 years.
The only reason the deniers of anthropogenic climate change are winning is the Ecos are losing the argument on the science. Good Science (GS) wins over (BS) Bad Science.
The only sure thing is climate changes. pg
ANH says:
January 4, 2011 at 1:16 pm
Wow, is this article really by Bob Dylan?
The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind
but
When Quinn the esquimeaux gets here,
Everybody will jump for joy
NoAstronomer says:
“Why is ‘sex’ only second on the list?”
You ask that of a group who have can’t keep it up and try to “hide the decline”?
Mike D. says:
“I prefer sex bombs over mind bombs, just in case Mr. Bojangles is listening. What GreenPeas needs is a co-op agreement with Playboy. “I had to take my clothes off because it’s too warm on this planet,” she said. Etc. They’d catch more flies with honey than exploding children…”
Now that really is global warmist logic!
She takes her clothes off because it is warm … therefore every red blooded male is eager for more warming so that more women are compelled to take off their clothes!
How does that sell the anti-warming rubbish?
You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.
They lie! It isn’t “a massive drop in public INTEREST”; it is a massive drop in public AGREEMENT!
John Q. Public no longer believes in their ruse of “global warming” or “climate change disruption” or whatever they want to call it. They’re toast, and they HATE it!
So just as they distorted the truth about the CO2-Climate connection, they are now distorting how the public views their dastardly scheeming to bend public attention back to their objective through the worst propaganda campaign I can remember since before the USSR crumbled.
An emotional appeal […]
Scientists should avoid using words such as “risk” and “uncertainty” in interviews
And finally, a new kind of journalism, where journalists become a sort of propaganda wing of the environmental movement
I’m really struggling here to see what exactly has changed.
Apart from the search for a “new Messiah” and “sexing up” CO2 it all sounds pretty much like business as usual. Strange given how well business as usual has worked out for them.
It seems that the University of East Anglia is ahead of the game on this one
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andyrkett/5226324393/
… climate protection movement
That’s new. Even sounds sexy. A bit.
Der Spiegal is a garbage magazine with garbage reporters. Germans who read it are obviously of low intelligence. Perhaps they are products of the German public education system.
PETA already tried a “sex it up” campaign. It was an overwhelming success. At least half of the respondents agreed those hot young models and actresses looked better naked than covered up by thick furs.
Sadly for the (C)AGW crowd, their “centerfolds” are the likes of James Hansen and Michael Mann. Ouch.
RE: Climate activists have begun directing millions in funding into training programs for environmental journalists, with the goal of encouraging what’s known as “advocacy journalism.”
This by far is the most troubling trend, when a reporter becomes an advocate to a cause, they are no longer a “reporter”, but a minister of propaganda to the cause. Sadly, more and more “reporters” are moving in that direction.
JKS says:
January 4, 2011 at 10:03 pm
absolutely! where are they?, with their free love whilst hugging a tree and all that, jeez man!
Mind you, I am sure my other half would be less inclined to let me do my ‘thang’ online wrt this blog if she thought I might possibly be enjoying it or being distracted!
and
Richard says:
January 5, 2011 at 12:00 am
Blimey mate – when Quinn the Eskimo gets here I’ll KNOW it’s time to move south! LOL!
I didn’t see this answered yet (sorry if I missed it)…
Cynthia Lauren Thorpe says:
January 4, 2011 at 1:59 pm
…Do you guys remember……. (now I even can’t!) You know…….that Jim guy? The kid who was constantly thrown outta the old white haired guy’s boat when they cruised us up the Amazon for the first time?…
For the record, I think that was Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. (Marlin? Perkins was the white-haired guy if I remember correctly)
‘Sean says:
January 4, 2011 at 1:35 pm
Sexing up a campaign of global warming in January in the northern hemisphere –doesn’t it give you goose bumps?’
Already had goosebumps.
I’m cold, and fed up of it…
sandyinderby says:
January 5, 2011 at 5:34 am
It seems that the University of East Anglia is ahead of the game on this one
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andyrkett/5226324393/
According to the link, UEA have a ‘pole dancing society’ – I always knew it was great university.