Meeting With Your TV Meteorologist: A Toolkit
Meeting Rationale/Background
As extreme weather events become more common and more intense, Americans are
turning to TV weather forecasters to understand how climate change is impacting
their daily lives. Meteorologists are trusted public messengers on weather, climate,
and science in general, and are more likely to have the ears of everyday Americans
than any climate scientist. Unfortunately, many television meteorologists are
missing the story on climate change, in large part because a shocking number deny
climate science — a 2010 George Mason survey found that only 19 percent of
meteorologists accept the science showing that human-induced climate change is
real. The key objective of meeting with your local meteorologist is to help them
understand the vital role they play in communicating climate change to the public.
Meteorologists need to understand that their viewers are literally looking out the
window right now, trying to understand all of this bizarre weather. Viewers want to
hear about climate change and understand its connection to extreme weather.
Those same viewers will support the meteorologists who get the story right, and
speak out against misinformation when it’s spread through their local TV station.
Setting up a meeting
In seeking private meetings with TV meteorologists, it is important to include the
meteorologist’s news director and general manager if possible. At a recent
conference, one meteorologist relayed to us how much power news directors and
general managers exert on all news coverage, including weather. On a related note,
that same meteorologist also mentioned that mail, emails, and phone calls from
viewers can do a lot to influence reporting. “If one person calls or writes, we assume
1,000 other people feel that way,” he told us. This meeting is a level beyond even
that, so there’s no doubt it can have a big impact, especially if the right people are
involved.
Researching the station
Before the meeting, research your local TV station. Does their reporting ever seem
to have an ideological bent? Do they cover climate change on other portions of their
broadcast? Which media corporation owns them? (Our TV meteorologist
spreadsheet identifies common media companies that own many local stations
throughout the country). Does the station have a published set of
journalistic/ethical standards? If not, does the media company they are owned by?
Researching your meteorologist
When it comes to climate change, there are basically three categories of TV
meteorologists: those who feel comfortable providing regular, accurate climate
coverage (around 10% of meteorologists), another 10% who virulently and publicly
deny climate change, and a majority who are “in the middle,” and avoiding talking
about climate change at all. Within this majority, there are a wide range of views: we
know that some of the folks “in the middle” are actually convinced climate change is
not happening. But in many other cases, TV meteorologists are well-informed about
climate change but afraid to speak out, or just don’t know much about climate
change and, aware of the reactions it often provokes, choose to give careful, noncommittal responses when pressed for their perspective.
To find out which category your meteorologist fits into, first consult the attached
spreadsheet detailing the climate perspectives of meteorologists across the country.
If your meteorologist is not listed in the spreadsheet, that merely means that they
have not come across our radar through public statements, interviews, tweets, or
interactions with viewers. Here are some basic suggestions for researching your
meteorologist and their climate perspective:
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Google the meteorologists name +climate or + global warming, etc.
Check if your meteorologist has a blog, and read through past posts to see if
climate change is ever mentioned
Check if your meteorologist has a twitter handle. If so, look through and see if
he or she ever mentions climate change. A useful resource for this is
Allmytweets.net. This site will display all the tweets from a particular twitter
handle. You can use the ctrl+F function to search for terms like “global
warming,” “climate change,” etc.
Look up whether the American Meteorological Society (AMS) has granted
your meteorologist their “Seal of Approval” or “Certified Broadcast
Meteorologist” designation
If you find anything noteworthy, please let us know!
Meeting Resources
Once you’ve researched your meteorologist/local TV station and scheduled a
meeting, it’s time to compile materials to take to the meeting. Here are some that we
recommend:
1) The American Meteorological Society’s 2012 Information Statement on Climate
Change
The American Meteorological Society is the professional association and scientific
body representing 14,000 members of the meteorological field.
The AMS passes information statements, “intended to provide a trustworthy,
objective and scientifically up-to-date explanation of scientific issues of concern to
the public at large.” In 2007, the AMS passed an information statement on climate
change, agreeing with the scientific consensus. In 2012, they updated that
statement, largely strengthening the core conclusions. The statement concluded:
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“There is unequivocal evidence that Earth’s lower atmosphere, ocean, and land
surface are warming; sea level is rising; and snow cover, mountain glaciers, and
Arctic sea ice are shrinking. The dominant cause of the warming since the 1950s is
human activities. This scientific finding is based on a large and persuasive body of
research.” The full statement is available here.
(A note on the AMS: In addition to supporting and publishing the work of scholars,
scientists, students, and weather enthusiasts, the AMS also works to enhance the
scientific credibility of TV meteorologists. In 1957, the AMS established a “Seal of
Approval,” which they bestow to meteorologists who convey accurate weather
information. In 2008, that program was phased out. They also developed another,
slightly more rigorous certification process, called the “Certified Broadcast
Meteorologist” program. Many TV stations require their TV meteorologists to have
one of these designations, so most TV meteorologists are AMS members.
The AMS Constitution outlines professional guidelines which AMS members are
expected to uphold. The most relevant passage is Article XII, the guidelines for
professional conduct. Members are expected to keep abreast of scientific
developments, should base their practice on sound scientific principles, should not
direct their professional activities in a manner generally perceived to be
incompatible with the public welfare, and should refrain from making unwarranted
claims.)
2) An explanation of the important role journalists can play in response to climate
change
We’ve attached a tri-fold pdf of a brochure that Forecast the Facts distributed to
meteorologists at the AMS Conference on Broadcast Meteorology. The brochure
explains why meteorologists have not just a responsibility to connect climate and
weather for their audience, but a professional opportunity. It lays out some basic
facts grounded in science. If you’d like us to send you a copy of the brochure, or see
a text-only version of the brochure, please let us know.
3) Documentation of the broad scientific consensus on the issue
The following are comprehensive summaries of the conclusions of climate science:
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fourth Assessment Report (from
2007)
“Advancing the Science of Climate Change,” National Academy of Science’s
Comprehensive Report on Climate Change (from 2010)
Beyond the Ivory Tower: The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change (published by
science historian Naomi Oreskes in Science Magazine, 2004)
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The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change: How Do We Know We’re Not Wrong?
(Oreskes, 2007)
4) Documentation of the links between climate and weather
The following are good resources for scientific literature connecting climate and
extreme weather:
A Decade of Weather Extremes (Coumou, Rahmstorf, Nature Climate Change, 2012)
United States Global Change Research Program’s Summary of Climate Change
Impacts
IPCC’s Special Report on Extreme Weather
Explaining Extreme Events of 2011 From A Climate Perspective (Published in the
AMS Bulletin)
5) The station’s own journalistic guidelines/mission statement
Station’s journalistic guidelines/mission statements can be a key leverage point in
this meeting. Assuming the station exists to serve and inform the public, failing to
report on local climate change impacts constitutes a dereliction of duty. Forecast the
Facts has used station standards in our campaigning before: for example, when PBS’
News Hour featured climate change denier Anthony Watts on a recent segment, we
called for PBS’ ombudsman to investigate why Watts was allowed to assert
unchallenged misinformation on the air. A key element of our argument for why the
ombudsman should investigate was the many ways in which the report seemed to
violate the editorial standards that underlie PBS’ reporting. The ombudsman
apparently agreed, and he ultimately outlined some of those violations in his column
critiquing the segment.
You can use a similar tactic by identifying the TV station’s journalistic guidelines and
mission statement, and demonstrating a) how misleading reporting on climate
change is not consistent with the principles they espouse, and b) why coverage
which accurately conveys the scope of the climate crisis is a journalistic imperative.
If the local TV station does not have publicly available guidelines, look for the
guidelines of the media company that owns the station. For example, here are the
reporting guidelines for one major media company:
E.W. Scripps Company Statement of Policy on Ethical and Professional Conduct
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Talking Points
The following are talking points to use during the meeting:
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This is about journalistic responsibility. Weather reporters are
journalists, and have a professional responsibility to cover the biggest
weather story of our lifetime. A major component of meteorologists’ jobs is
explaining why weather events are happening, and what the public can
expect in the future. Their forecasts help protect people and their families,
preparing them for dangerous weather from heat waves to hurricanes.
Because global warming is changing the weather of their community and
putting it at risk, talking about global warming is a part of their duty as a
reporter.
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Viewers want to know about climate change. Viewers are interested and
curious about climate change. Polls show that as the weather grows more
extreme, Americans are taking notice. Viewers are counting on weather
reporters to provide them with accurate information about weather and
climate. 89% of Americans report relying on local news for information
about the weather, and for many Americans, the TV meteorologist is
perceived as the “station scientist,” and therefore a reliable source on climate
science in particular. Public trust in local news is higher than any other news
source, and this has remained true even as public trust in other media
sources has declined.
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There are already meteorologists throughout the country reporting on
climate change. One great example is Jim Gandy at WLTX in Columbia, South
Carolina. Gandy reports regularly on climate change, including great reports
on localized impacts like how climate change is expected to influence poison
ivy growth in South Carolina. Dan Satterfield, a converted climate skeptic
who reported until recently from conservative Huntsville, Alabama, has a
blog where he delves into the peer reviewed literature. And Mike Nelson of
Denver interacts regularly with his viewers about climate change and
weather. Rather than getting backlash, these segments prove popular with
viewers, and have been shown to lead to a more informed audience.
Segments that integrate scientific content on local TV often serve to boost
ratings, while leading to a more informed viewership.
Wrap-Up
Hopefully, you’ve found this toolkit useful. If you have questions or need additional
supporting materials/information, please don’t hesitate to e-mail Jordan at
jordan@forecastthefacts.org. We hope you’ll help us deepen our understanding of
this issue by sharing what you learn from your meeting.
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