In other words, local news outlets are failing in their jobs, simply publishing cult screeds fed to them
Mysterious eco group is funding local climate journalism: ‘Advocacy dressed up as news reporting’
A little-known environmental organization founded by the heir of a billion-dollar fortune has quietly organized large grants for local news outlets to boost climate change coverage and, sometimes, hire new climate reporters.
The North Carolina-based 1Earth Fund states on its website that it was founded to “fund cost-effective communication projects that can reach audiences across the political divide.” The group markets itself as a counter to “disinformation campaigns” funded by fossil fuel companies.
While little else is publicly shared about 1Earth Fund’s operations, the group adds on its site that it funds “projects like Connected Coastlines,” a nationwide climate reporting initiative in coastal states overseen by the Pulitzer Center. The project’s list of partners includes The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, Miami Herald, Seattle Times and Orlando Sentinel. (snip)
One such reporting project is titled “State of Change” and is based in North Carolina. The Pulitzer Center highlights six grantees who are journalists tasked with showcasing “the effects of climate change: sea level rise, ocean acidification, coastal erosion, more powerful storms, global warming, etc., and its impact on communities and individuals.” Their work has largely been published by a local PBS affiliate. (snip)
In addition, 1Earth Fund has partnered with various non-profit organizations to send direct grants to newsrooms located throughout the Southeast. The grants include a $65,000 grant to USA Today affiliate Wilmington News-Star in North Carolina, a $50,000 grant to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) in Georgia and a grant to The News & Observer and The Herald-Sun in North Carolina. Articles published in the Winston-Salem Journal in North Carolina have also been funded by a 1Earth Fund grant.
So, basically, these newsrooms have abandoned their independence and journalistic integrity to publish cult advocacy pieces.
Articles produced with financial support from 1Earth Fund grants or by reporters funded by such grants often promote green energy and warn of dangers posed by global warming.
Examples published over the last 12 months include a News & Observer story with the headline “Sea change: NC is starting to make progress on wind energy, but lags other states” and a Winston-Salem Journal article titled “100% green energy in NC would cut costs, spark job growth, study says.”
That N&O one sounds familiar.
Still, the newspapers that have received financial support from 1Earth Fund have said the group doesn’t influence their editorial judgment. When asked about 1Earth Fund’s ties to the Southwire Company, a spokesperson for the AJC said the outlet maintains “strict editorial independence at all times to protect journalistic integrity.”
BS
“The notion that McClatchy doesn’t consider the agenda of the special interest donors who pay their reporters’ salaries is ridiculous,” Daniel Sr. (chairman of the NC Ag Partnership) said. “We’re entering a startling new frontier when secretive donor networks pay journalists who claim their work is ‘objective.’”
It’s typical shady media stuff.
Read: Secret Group Funding Local News Climate (scam) Journalism »