On the September 5 edition of CBS This Morning: Saturday, Berardelli reported that the heat dome over the West was made worse by climate change, which is drying out the brush, before noting: “Three of the four biggest fires in the history of California - think about that - are burning right now.” Notably, four of the six climate mentions on CBS were made by the network’s meteorologist and climate specialist Jeff Berardelli. The other mention appeared on NBC’s Today. None of ABC’s 19 segments on the wildfires in California mentioned climate change. ![]() Of the seven climate change mentions over the four-day period beginning September 5, six appeared on CBS programs. However, given the magnitude of these fires, the clear climate-change fingerprints on them, and the fact that there is still no federal response to this crisis, the increase to 15% still amounts to journalistic malpractice. This is a marked improvement from wildfire coverage in the month of August, when only 4% of wildfire segments on broadcast programs made the connection to climate change. Seven of these wildfire segments, or 15%, mentioned climate change. PBS Newshour outperformed the corporate network programs, making the connection between the intense fires and climate change in both of the wildfire segments it aired.įrom September 5 through September 8, morning and evening news shows on ABC, CBS, and NBC collectively aired 46 segments on the California wildfires.However, four of the seven mentions were made by one reporter, CBS meteorologist and climate specialist Jeff Berardelli. Seven of the 46 wildfire segments - 15% of them - mentioned climate change.Corporate broadcast TV outlets - ABC, CBS, and NBC - aired a combined 46 news and weather segments about wildfires on their morning and evening news shows from September 5 through September 8.That’s part of a troubling trend, and it comes on the heels of an analysis that found that only 4% of broadcast news wildfire coverage during the month of August mentioned climate change. But the ample coverage has failed, with some exception, to tell the story of why it is happening, including the role our overheated planet has played in intensifying the wildfires.Ī Media Matters analysis found that the vast majority of corporate TV news coverage from September 5 through September 8 ignored the relationship between climate change and California’s wildfires. The wildfire media coverage over the three-day weekend and into Tuesday included horrifying images, footage, and accounts from those on the ground, and awestruck reporters onsite and in studios casting around for language that properly conveys the scope and magnitude of what is happening in California. ![]() The fires this season have already burned more acres than during any other year on record - and there are still several months left in the fire season. Over the long Labor Day weekend, an explosive fire in the Sierra Nevada and record-shattering heat accelerated the climate crisis unfolding in California.
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