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The following letter was forwarded by the CBC Ombudsman
to David Studer, Executive Producer of The Fifth Estate,
“along with the request that your concerns be addressed.”
From: S. Fred Singer
To: ombudsman@cbc.ca
Cc: Hubert_Lacroix@cbc.ca
Subject: Request for a review of the way in which I was
identified in the Fifth Estate program 'The Denial Machine'
Mr. Vince Carlin
Ombudsman
CBC
P.O. Box 500, Station A
Toronto,
Ontario M5W 1E6Canada
Dear Mr. Carlin,
In the CBC Fifth Estate program, The Denial Machine,
broadcast repeatedly over the past year, I am referred
to simply as being "of George Mason University in
Virginia". Considering the topic of this program
was climate change science and I have many years of extensive
experience in this area (including having written the
book "Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1,500 Years”,
just published), I charge that the program in question
directly violates the CBC’s Journalistic Standards and
Practices which state (Production Standards, section B:
1.3):
“‘Any relevant aspects of a commentator's credentials
must be clearly summarized so that the audience may have
a perspective from which to appraise the speaker's view.
For example, the position and affiliation of a journalist
or the particular qualifications of an academic or any
other type of speaker should be stated.”
My full climate science related background is easily
available to anyone to see on http://www.sepp.org/about%20sepp/bios/singer/biosfs.html
- knowledge of my background in the field is undoubtedly
the reason the Fifth Estate interviewed me in the first
place. Why did they not identify me properly in their
program?
Here are some of my credentials they could have brought
up, in place of their sparse identification of me:
- atmospheric physicist with a specialization in climate
change science;
- Distinguished Research Professor at George Mason University;
- Professor Emeritus of environmental sciences at University
of Virginia;
- the first director of the U.S. National Weather Satellite
Service;
- served five years as vice chairman of the U.S. National
Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmospheres.
I look forward to your review of this situation. Considering
how the scientist who supports the position the CBC were
clearly promoting was identified (Dr. Andrew Weaver),
I charge that the slight was intentional and designed
to diminish the significance of what I was telling viewers
about climate change science.
Sincerely,
S. Fred Singer, PhD
President, Science & Environmental
Policy Project
http://www.sepp.org
1600 South Eads Street,
Suite #712-S
Arlington, VA 22202-2907
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