The Wall Street Journal downplayed a recent report that found the impacts of global warming are being felt in every region of the United States. The latest National Climate Assessment, which forecasted dire predictions for the nation's economy if global warming remains unchecked, was highlighted above the fold on the front page of every major U.S. newspaper except for the Journal.
The U.S. Global Change Research Program released its third National Climate Assessment (NCA) on the morning of May 6, focusing on how global warming will affect different regions of the United States and what can be done about it. The report received widespread attention, with most of the major newspapers devoting above the fold coverage to the NCA on May 7. But readers of the Wall Street Journal might have missed the story -- the paper devoted a mere factbox to the report on the lower half of the front page, under the “World-Wide” sidebar:
The WSJ instead chose to highlight on the front page: the conversion of office buildings into high-end apartments, the regulatory investigation into large banks' hiring practices in Asia, a Chinese internet company's plans to expand its share offerings to the U.S., early primary results that are favorable to the Republican Party, and the “chic” fashion of the current Afghan president whose “Fur Caps Set Standard.” Though front page placement might be less relevant as newspapers are shifting to digital, it is still telling of the paper's judgment of which stories are important.
The Wall Street Journal article that did run fittingly highlighted the dire economic aspects of the National Climate Assessment: the report states that climate change is already costing our economy billions. But by burying it, far fewer people likely saw this warning.
Ever since Rupert Murdoch took over the Journal in 2007, there have been worries that the conservative tilt of the editorial page is spreading into its news division. Downplaying the NCA corresponds with how the Journal's editorial page has covered the issue in the past: as something that can be easily dismissed. In 2011, for instance, the Journal's U.S. print edition did not publish an op-ed by a former climate “skeptic” whose Koch family funded research re-confirmed rising global temperatures, choosing instead to run a highly misleading column disputing the temperature record. The Journal also printed the most climate-denying letters to the editor of the top newspapers in 2013, and has published op-eds with statements that run counter to science, including one that suggested that “humanitarians” should be “clamoring for more” carbon dioxide because it is a “boon to plant life.” Furthermore, the paper's editorial board has been criticized by environmental journalists for misleading on climate science.
Here's how the top U.S. newspapers covered the story in their May 7 print editions (images retrieved via Newseum front pages):
The Wall Street Journal:
The New York Times:
Los Angeles Times:
The Washington Post:
USA Today:
