Climate Porn and War Porn

Here's an interesting concept - Climate Porn.

The "apocalyptic" way in which climate change is often portrayed in the press and on government websites succeeds only in "thrilling" people while undermining practical efforts to tackle the problem, according to Labour's favourite thinktank, the Institute for Public Policy Research.

In other words, by overselling the effects of Global Warming, the climate alarmists are making the situation sound so hopeless that people feel it is out of their control. This is nothing new. When the environmental movement started around 1970 the media was full of stories about it was "already too late". This long track-record of scare stories is one reason I've been a global warming sceptic.

At the same time, the article goes on:

He added: "Government and green groups should avoid giving the impression that 'we are all doomed'. The focus should be on the big actions that people can take to address climate change, like switching to a hybrid car, fitting a wind turbine or installing cavity wall insulation, not just small ones such as turning down the thermostat or switching off the lights."

This is the other half of the equation. Warming is being over-sold but the steps needed to stop it are undersold. Turning down the thermostat and shutting off lights will not cut your energy use by 60%. For that matter, neither will switching to a hybrid car and adding wall insulation so even this article undersells the societal changes needed.

In a sort-of-related matter, a wire-service photograph of Beirut was Photo Shopped to make damage from Israeli bombing seem worse than it was. This could be called War Porn - news being sensationalized in order to inspire a reaction.

The old news media stresses the need for editorial control in order to assure accuracy. So where is this? It seems that the MSM is broken. It probably always has been, we just didn't notice.