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Although broadcast TV news generally does a subpar job of covering climate change, ABC has fared considerably worse than its counterparts, airing less climate coverage than CBS and NBC every year since 2013, according to a Media Matters study. Notably, two of the debate's moderators, George Stephanopoulos and David Muir, also anchor ABC's two major news program, and those shows aired just over 10 minutes of combined climate coverage in 2018, far behind CBS' and NBC's news programs.
ABC has continued this trend, largely ignoring major climate-related stories in 2019:
On August 22, the Democratic National Committee's resolutions committee rejected a resolution to sponsor a climate debate. A climate debate would have helped voters learn where the candidates stand on potential solutions, motivated candidates to articulate clear plans for climate action, and ensured that debate moderators don't give climate short shrift as they have done in years past. While dedicated "town halls" on climate have been announced since the DNC's decision, that format's limitations and challenges mean that debate moderators still bear the responsibility for engaging the candidates in a meaningful discussion of the climate crisis.
And unfortunately, this presidential election cycle isn't off to a promising start when it comes to discussion of climate action and policy. The climate crisis was the topic of 9.5% of questions during the two-night Democratic presidential primary debate hosted by CNN on July 30 and 31. During the two-night debate hosted by NBC in late June, only 5.8% of the questions were about climate change.
These numbers are only slightly better than those of the 20 presidential primary debates in 2015 and 2016, when a mere 1.5% of the questions were about climate change and ABC moderators failed to ask a climate question in either the network's Democratic or Republican debate.
There are a few ways that ABC's moderators can ensure the climate crisis receives the substantial attention it deserves. These include asking multiple questions about climate change and giving all of the candidates a chance to weigh in, asking specific questions about candidates' plans and proposed solutions, and helping voters understand the differences between the candidates' climate plans. It's also important for moderators to avoid: framing climate change as a narrow political issue, fixating on the cost of taking action to stem the climate crisis without mentioning the potential costs of inaction, and letting the candidates get away with lies or distortions.
Climate change is an existential threat that demands urgent and immediate action to stave off the worst consequences. Without a dedicated climate debate, moderators at the upcoming general debates must begin making the climate crisis a primary focus. Hopefully tonight's debate moderators from ABC and Univision will take this opportunity to give the climate crisis the attention it deserves.
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Although broadcast TV news generally does a subpar job of covering climate change, ABC has fared considerably worse than its counterparts, airing less climate coverage than CBS and NBC every year since 2013, according to a Media Matters study. Notably, two of the debate's moderators, George Stephanopoulos and David Muir, also anchor ABC's two major news program, and those shows aired just over 10 minutes of combined climate coverage in 2018, far behind CBS' and NBC's news programs.
ABC has continued this trend, largely ignoring major climate-related stories in 2019:
On August 22, the Democratic National Committee's resolutions committee rejected a resolution to sponsor a climate debate. A climate debate would have helped voters learn where the candidates stand on potential solutions, motivated candidates to articulate clear plans for climate action, and ensured that debate moderators don't give climate short shrift as they have done in years past. While dedicated "town halls" on climate have been announced since the DNC's decision, that format's limitations and challenges mean that debate moderators still bear the responsibility for engaging the candidates in a meaningful discussion of the climate crisis.
And unfortunately, this presidential election cycle isn't off to a promising start when it comes to discussion of climate action and policy. The climate crisis was the topic of 9.5% of questions during the two-night Democratic presidential primary debate hosted by CNN on July 30 and 31. During the two-night debate hosted by NBC in late June, only 5.8% of the questions were about climate change.
These numbers are only slightly better than those of the 20 presidential primary debates in 2015 and 2016, when a mere 1.5% of the questions were about climate change and ABC moderators failed to ask a climate question in either the network's Democratic or Republican debate.
There are a few ways that ABC's moderators can ensure the climate crisis receives the substantial attention it deserves. These include asking multiple questions about climate change and giving all of the candidates a chance to weigh in, asking specific questions about candidates' plans and proposed solutions, and helping voters understand the differences between the candidates' climate plans. It's also important for moderators to avoid: framing climate change as a narrow political issue, fixating on the cost of taking action to stem the climate crisis without mentioning the potential costs of inaction, and letting the candidates get away with lies or distortions.
Climate change is an existential threat that demands urgent and immediate action to stave off the worst consequences. Without a dedicated climate debate, moderators at the upcoming general debates must begin making the climate crisis a primary focus. Hopefully tonight's debate moderators from ABC and Univision will take this opportunity to give the climate crisis the attention it deserves.
Although broadcast TV news generally does a subpar job of covering climate change, ABC has fared considerably worse than its counterparts, airing less climate coverage than CBS and NBC every year since 2013, according to a Media Matters study. Notably, two of the debate's moderators, George Stephanopoulos and David Muir, also anchor ABC's two major news program, and those shows aired just over 10 minutes of combined climate coverage in 2018, far behind CBS' and NBC's news programs.
ABC has continued this trend, largely ignoring major climate-related stories in 2019:
On August 22, the Democratic National Committee's resolutions committee rejected a resolution to sponsor a climate debate. A climate debate would have helped voters learn where the candidates stand on potential solutions, motivated candidates to articulate clear plans for climate action, and ensured that debate moderators don't give climate short shrift as they have done in years past. While dedicated "town halls" on climate have been announced since the DNC's decision, that format's limitations and challenges mean that debate moderators still bear the responsibility for engaging the candidates in a meaningful discussion of the climate crisis.
And unfortunately, this presidential election cycle isn't off to a promising start when it comes to discussion of climate action and policy. The climate crisis was the topic of 9.5% of questions during the two-night Democratic presidential primary debate hosted by CNN on July 30 and 31. During the two-night debate hosted by NBC in late June, only 5.8% of the questions were about climate change.
These numbers are only slightly better than those of the 20 presidential primary debates in 2015 and 2016, when a mere 1.5% of the questions were about climate change and ABC moderators failed to ask a climate question in either the network's Democratic or Republican debate.
There are a few ways that ABC's moderators can ensure the climate crisis receives the substantial attention it deserves. These include asking multiple questions about climate change and giving all of the candidates a chance to weigh in, asking specific questions about candidates' plans and proposed solutions, and helping voters understand the differences between the candidates' climate plans. It's also important for moderators to avoid: framing climate change as a narrow political issue, fixating on the cost of taking action to stem the climate crisis without mentioning the potential costs of inaction, and letting the candidates get away with lies or distortions.
Climate change is an existential threat that demands urgent and immediate action to stave off the worst consequences. Without a dedicated climate debate, moderators at the upcoming general debates must begin making the climate crisis a primary focus. Hopefully tonight's debate moderators from ABC and Univision will take this opportunity to give the climate crisis the attention it deserves.