Bernie Sanders has noticed something very interesting: the Sunday shows seem to be ignoring one of the biggest--if not the biggest--problem we face: global climate change:
A group of senators on Thursday sent a letter to network television executives asking why there has been “shockingly little discussion” about global warming on Sunday morning broadcast network news and interview programs. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Brian Schatz cited a new Media Matters for America study which found that only 27 minutes of air time was devoted to discussions about climate change during all of last year on Meet the Press, This Week, Face the Nation and Fox News Sunday – combined.[..]
“Given the widely recognized challenge that climate change poses to the nation and the world, this is an absurdly short amount of time for a subject of such importance,” the senators said. [..]
The senators noted that big oil and coal companies spend significant amounts of money advertising on the commercial television networks. “We hope that this is not influencing your decision about the subjects discussed or the guests who appear on your network programming,” they said.
To read the letter, click here.
Oh I don't think there's any doubt that the advertising dollar greatly influences the programming. And let's be honest, those shows aren't produced to inform Americans (we have ten years of Sunday show coverage to offer as proof), but to set the narrative. Those six owners of the media companies have greedy little fingers in a lot of pies, but none of whom will be enriched by getting honest about climate change. So what's the incentive for them?
