Global Warming Sample Essay

The House of Commons’ Science and Technology Committee recently came to the conclusion that a leading climate research center did not tamper with data to exaggerate evidence that global warming is a threat. The Associated Press (AP) released a report that was featured by FOX and MSNBC on their web sites. Both FOX and MSNBC managed to put their own subtle spins on what was essentially the same report. The FOX News headline reads “Scientists Cleared - - After One-Day Probe,” while MSNBC went with the AP headline reading “’Climategate’ inquiry largely clears scientists.” MSNBC followed its headline with the summation, “British lawmakers say science sound, but want transparency.” FOX’s lead-in line refers to the fact that the investigation was based on “just a single day of testimony.” Each network conveyed a soft message right at the start of its report. MSNBC included a paragraph explaining what was meant by an e-mail “reference to a ‘trick’ that could be used to ‘hide the decline’ of temperatures.” The explanation stated that “hide the decline” was merely scientific shorthand to refer to the discarding of erroneous data, while “trick” was intended to mean simply a “neat way of handing evidence” and not a suggestion of underhanded activity. In MSNBC’s report a statement was included that the controversy would ultimately support global warming science because researchers would be forced to share their information freely, including the comment that “The winner in the end will be climate science itself.” FOX, on the other hand, incorporated several paragraphs highlighting the fact that scientists who are skeptical about global warming theories were upset by the outcome. FOX quoted one such scientist and included a link to his rebuttal of the decision. This scientist specifically argued against the innocence of the terms “hiding the decline” and “trick.” He called the conclusions of the panel “absurd” and stated that the “trick” reference was an intention to trick readers into “receiving a false rhetorical impression” about the climate data. It is clear to see that each of these networks was able to convey the story with its own particular slant. Neither did so in an overt manner, nonetheless they were able to guide the reader's thinking in a certain direction. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36104206 http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/03/31/climate-gate-inquiry-largely-clears-scientists/