I think the light bulb may have gone on with this guy. From TalkingPointsMemo:
In addition to being mocked for its breathless coverage of Flight 370, CNN has also been under fire for the way it has covered climate change. Zucker on Monday defended the network’s approach to the issue.
“Climate change is one of those stories that deserves more attention, that we all talk about,” he said, “but we haven’t figured out how to engage the audience in that story in a meaningful way. When we do do those stories, there does tend to be a tremendous amount of lack of interest on the audience’s part.”
Translation: Nobody cares. ZZZZzzzz.
In other news…
Game show host Pat Sajak caused a major uproar in social media circles on Tuesday, writing on Twitter Monday night that “global warming alarmists are unpatriotic racists knowingly misleading for their own ends.”
http://twitter.com/patsajak/statuses/468581395237842945
That’s unfortunate. A number of global warming alarmists I know are in fact patriotic and not racists, but they are severely misguided in their belief system.
But, I laughed at this one from Sajak:
http://twitter.com/patsajak/statuses/465296637519097856
I understand that a Tweet contains no more than 140 characters, including spaces, surely not enough for subtleties or fine distinctions. [That sentence would barely fit in a Tweet.] Pat’s tweet may have an issue or two–but look at who bridled at it! If it makes Mann respond in such a way, there must be some truth in it.
I also know a few global warming alarmists who are not unpatriotic racists.
Besides the tweets mentioned, Pat Sajak also tweeted:
I presume that the “racist” jab was about the way the green movement, and the warmistas in particular, are keeping Africa in energy poverty. The “unpatriotic” part I suspect is a reference to the overwhelming anti-capitalist ideology on the green left, and this DOES include the alarmist climatologists. These people are definitely anti-liberty and in the land of liberty that is unpatriotic.
Still, not wise and not helpful to put out those kinds of comments without an explanation.
Pamela Gray says:
May 20, 2014 at 9:22 pm
Who is Pat Sajak?
If you have ever heard of the Robin Williams movie “Good Morning Vietnam”, you might be interested in knowing Pat Sajak had a bit part in the back story. In 1968 when the famed Armed Forces Radio announcer Adrian Cronauer, who coined the phrase “Good Morning Vietnam”, left the war zone, he was replaced by Pat Sajak. Pat was also a television weatherman in Nashville before becoming the host of “Wheel of Fortune.
I like this Zucker quote: “So we’re still there whenever that happens, but we’re going to supplement that with some different kind of storytelling,”
I’m also a bit flabbergasted that a “news” organization will not cover a Congressional hearing about events that led to the deaths of several US citizens, including an ambassador.
I think Vanna’s going to send him a letter.
Doug Proctor says:
May 20, 2014 at 9:07 pm
Wow.
What, 40% of Americans are unpatriotic racists misleading others for their own ends?
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Don’t forget 97% of scientists!
Just got back from a tour of the West. Vast fields of windmills in several states. Not only eyesores, bird chop-a-matics but, at best, one in ten even moving, much less “spinning”. It the “patriots” want to spend on the being “sustainable”, use nuke power stations and add hydrocarbon recovery and processing to manufacture them. Called recycling. Bulid them alongside pipelines.
I’m betting the removal of those useless appendages will likely cost more than to build them – if they are ever removed. More probable is the preservations making each one an historic marker with it’s own plaque.
ron in austin says:
May 21, 2014 at 3:33 am
I like this Zucker quote: “So we’re still there whenever that happens, but we’re going to supplement that with some different kind of storytelling,”
I’m also a bit flabbergasted that a “news” organization
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It’s not news, it’s storytelling. More precisely, “we make stuff up”.
+1 for Sajak.If you’ve heard Harry Reid on the US Senate floor over the past month calling conservatives/CAGW Skeptics racists, unpatriotic, etc then I think you might know who Pat Sajak was making fun of with his tweets. Pat was just flipping the script. The same can be done by calling CAGW Believers, deniers. They deny the facts and live in a fairy tale model. They deny the pause. Deniers. Pat just flipped the script on Harry Reid.
cedarhill says:
May 21, 2014 at 3:53 am
It the “patriots” want to spend on the being “sustainable”…..
======================
If they want to spend on being “sustainable”, they should spend their own money, not mine.
CNN tanking, why? Zucker forgot rule #1 in Network news. If it bleeds it leads. In other words, you give the audience what it wants if you want to stay in business. He is admitting that CNN does not care about news or audiences.
As for Sajak, given his history, I laughed. His tweet is pure sarcasm on the methods employed by the left.
He has a point, the white race is almost exclusivley blamed for all climate evil. Policies enacted to stop AGW are often destructive to the countries that propose them. If you blame people because of their race and knowingly harm your own country, well Pats right.
The definition Guy says:
May 20, 2014 at 11:36 pm
Anyone who even partially agrees with Sajak obviously marched against civil rights, advocates the arming of all grammar school students with assault rifles, hates poor people, animals, the elderly and foreigners, shuns science and technology, tortures insects for fun and wants a world full of filthy air and water for our children to slog through.
Dang, you defined me perfectly – except for the “…obviously marched against civil rights, advocates the arming of all grammar school students with assault rifles, hates poor people, animals, the elderly and foreigners, shuns science and technology, tortures insects for fun and wants a world full of filthy air and water for our children to slog through” part.
As for this:
I now believe global warming alarmists are unpatriotic racists knowingly misleading for their own ends.
I agree that calling the alarmists “racists” is both incorrect and unfortunate. An Alarmist may think they are patriotic, as I’m sure President Obama does, but that doesn’t mean that their actions are always in the best interest of the Republic for which they should stand.
Also, some Alarmists may be unknowingly misleading since they believe what they are repeating and are not aware that they’ve been duped.
Just an observation.
Pat, prepare to assume the position. It IRS is coming, and not to buy a vowel.
Pat, it’s important that we all be totally accurate. Warmists are not “unpatriotic racists.”
They are DUMB unpatriotic racists. I’m glad I straightened that out.
I L_V_ _AT _AJ_K
The warministias want to increase, drastically, the price of energy. Who do you think this hurts the most? The rich? Or the Poor?
That’s right, the poor. I knew you could do it!
Now think which group of our country has a larger percentage of poor.
Also, consider that almost everyone who criticizes the presidents policies is called racisist.
Maybe Pat’s terminology isn’t so far out as most of you think.
Well, I don’t know if Sajak was speaking in earnest. Rather, I wonder if he was just making fun of the likes of Sharpton, Al Gore, Hoard Dean, and others who would label skeptics “deniers” and accuse them of racism. In considering the way the groupthinkosphere reacted, it certainly underscored the double standard.
Pat Sajak used to have a regular Conservative blog. I suspect the network told him to tone it down to avoid losing viewers. He’s very aware of current events. Don’t let the “game show host” thing fool you, he only works one day a week taping shows so has a lot of free time to do other things. I genuinely like his take on the political wars.
Youtube has a LOT of Chuck Woolery Wheel of Fortune episodes.
Taking a tweet out of context can make virtually any “tweeter” look like a fool…
@CodeTech – possible. But I doubt his viewers concern themselves with things political.
“Racist” is like “denialist” in that they have become meaningless. People who are concerned about AGW are not “racist” whatever that means. If we are ever to resolve this issue, we must recognize that it is not a zero sum game. People who hold views contrary to others are not thereby immoral or evil. They just have a different opinion.
The words “denier” and “denialist” have been extremely damaging to any attempt to come to terms with this issue. The best way to counter the sue of such damaging epithets is to rise above them and to meet hostility with good will. I can remember the scene when Nelson Mandela entered the stadium at the rugby championship wearing a Springbok’s uniform. We can’t compare the situation that he faced with that of AGW but perhaps we can emulate him in his greatness in dealing with anger and mistrust.
Policies adopted to address global warming absolutely disproportionately affect brown and black folks around the world. Just as the drug war is racist, so too is the carbon war. These policies will, and in some places have, increase the cost of energy. We’ve seen the amazing things access to cheap energy can do and it is madness to suggest others shouldn’t have that same access.
I’ve heard it said, “Twitter is like a loaded gun without a safety”. So handle it with extreme care, or don’t touch it at all. ;->
Pat Sajak has been skeptical about CAGW for years. I’d guess he got pushed so much so often that he lost his temper. Perfectly understandable.
You have got to be kidding me. Wheel of Fortune???? Get outa here!!!!!!