When President Donald Trump delivered a barrage of false statements about climate change during his September 23 speech to the UN General Assembly, he made headlines around the world. Mocking climate change as a "con job" promoted by "stupid people," Trump's remarks also illustrated a dilemma facing journalism's traditional approach to covering politics, where not appearing to take sides has long been a cardinal rule. As more and more political leaders and movements mirror Trump's habit of making factually inaccurate claims, a new report from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism offers a fresh way to think about this dilemma, along with a host of practical tools for tackling it.
The Guardian has long been at the forefront of agenda-setting climate journalism, and in a news cycle dominated by autocrats and war, we refuse to let the health of the planet slip out of sight. We stand out as a media organisation by examining why the climate emergency is creating a new era of demagogues and how powerful governments, financial institutions and big oil companies are turning their back on climate promises.
