July 13, 2015

NYT Reporters Raise Concerns with Guardian Divestment Campaign

Two longtime and respected reporters with the New York Times recently raised significant concerns over (and outright disapproval of) The Guardian’s fossil fuel divestment campaign, saying it has the potential to undermine the credibility of climate change coverage and hinder efforts to address global warming.

Andrew Revkin, author of the Dot Earth blog hosted by the New York Times, indicated that he was troubled by The Guardian’s divestment campaign, saying at a conference last week in Paris that the tactic is really about “preaching to the choir” and generating clicks on the Guardian website. According to Revkin:

“I have a feeling that (the Guardian’s readership is) liberal on average…so preaching to the converted is a way to get sustained traffic (to the website).”

Revkin warned that the Guardian’s focus on divestment shouldn’t come at the expense of their coverage of other far more important and consequential issues. Revkin continued:

“I came late to economics—and I learned about (the meaning of) opportunity cost. Everything you’re doing means you are not doing something else. So what are you not covering when you are putting all resources into one thing? If that one aspect of climate change is divestment and a finger-pointing approach to the problem (you are) not looking at the full suite of ways that societies are going to need to explore to get de-carbonized in a growing and global economy. You are kind of missing stuff—and journalism to me is about making sure you are keeping track of the whole picture…”

Meanwhile, New York Times environmental reporter John Schwartz, who covers divestment for the Times, said on the The Diane Rehm Show on NPR last week that the divestment campaign “hinders” the effort, stating:

“I think that, you know, in talking about The Guardian, I don’t see a newspaper like The Times doing this. I see The Times editorial page taking strong stands on climate change issues, but if you’re trying to do reporting on a day to day basis, it – I think it hinders you, to have your entire organization thrown in with a side.”

Finally, as noted at the Paris conference, The Guardian’s campaign to convince the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust to divest from fossil fuels has failed, with both foundations having rejected that call in favor of other tools to impact climate change, such as engagement and investments in sustainability. As Stephen Coll of Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism recently stated, “if you want to change the laws, strategic engagement is going to be necessary.” Unfortunately, The Guardian has ignored that reality.

Listen to Panel Discussion Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KgRHrsWL80&feature=youtu.be&a