Media coverage slams the Great Global Warming Swindle

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Media coverage of the Ofcom ruling on a complaint leveled at a UK documentary called “The Great Global Warming Swindle,” has been quick and harsh.

And so it should be. We here at DeSmog have been relentless in debunking the misrepresentations of this climate change shock-u-mentary that appeared to be more about raising hackles and spreading misinformation than about reflecting the true state of climate science.

As Dave Rado, the UK citizen behind the official complaint, aptly puts it:

The programme seemed very convincing, but it systematically distorted the evidence on climate change and every other major topic it dealt with. It also misrepresented the motives and conduct of many dedicated researchers who work in the field.”

UK media has been quick out the gate reporting that while the OfCom ruling did not find that the Swindle “materially mislead viewers so as to cause harm or offence,” it did misrepresent the views of some of the world’s most distinguished scientists.

It is misrepresentation such as that ruled by OfCom to be contained in the Great Global Warming Swindle that has lead to unnecessary delay in action and confusion amongst the general public on the most important issue we face today.

Here’s a complete round-up of media coverage on the OfCom decision so far. We will add to the list throughout the day.

Documentary broke Broadcasting Code

Excerpt: “A controversial Channel 4 documentary about global warming misrepresented the views of the Government’s former chief scientist, Ofcom ruled.”

Channel 4 censured for misrepresenting scientists on climate change

Excerpt: “Channel 4 misrepresented the views of some of the world’s most distinguished scientists in a documentary claiming that global warming was a conspiracy, the broadcasting watchdog has ruled.”

Global warming documentary: The Ofcom report at a glance

Excerpt: Ofcom says it received 265 complaints about the factual accuracy of Channel 4’s documentary, The Great Global Warming Swindle.

British regulator says global warming documentary violated TV broadcast code

Excerpt: “British broadcast regulator Ofcom says a documentary challenging majority scientific opinion on global warming broke several rules by treating some of its interview subjects unfairly.”

Opinion: A reluctant whistle-blower

Excerpt: “Channel 4’s The Great Global Warming Swindle documentary, broadcast in March 2007, broke Ofcom rules, the UK media regulator has ruled.”

Climate documentary ‘broke rules’

Excerpt: “The Great Global Warming Swindle, a controversial Channel 4 film, broke Ofcom rules, the media regulator says.”

Climate program swindled viewers

Excerpt: THE controversial documentary The Great Global Warming Swindle misrepresented several leading climate scientists to try to convince people that human-induced climate change is a fraud, Britain’s broadcasting regulator, Ofcom, has found.”

The public has been swindled

Excerpt: “Ofcom’s censure of Channel 4 is flawed: The Great Global Warming Swindle clearly misled viewers about climate change.”

Ofcom can’t take the heat of climate debate

Excerpt: “The climate change lobby tends to react like scalded cats should anyone have the temerity to question their assertion that global warming is a man-made phenomenon.”

Channel 4 mislead viewers with climate change documentary

Excerpt: “A Scientist, in fact, a former Government Scientist, has sparked a controversial debate on whether the latest program he featured in caused viewers to be mislead on the documentary topic, of Climate Change.”

C4 climate programme breached rules

Excerpt: “The media regulator has found that Channel 4’s documentary The Great Global Warming Swindle broke a number of broadcasting rules.”

Ofcom: Channel 4 misrepresented scientists’ views in climate change programme

Excerpt: “Channel 4 misrepresented the views of a group of leading scientists and failed to act with ‘due impartiality’ in a controversial documentary on climate change last year, the broadcast regulator has ruled today.”

What materially matters: OfCom and climate

Excerpt: Today’s Ofcom bulletin confirms the ruling on the mistreatment of leading scientists and the IPCC in the ‘Great Global Warming Swindle’, broadcast on Channel 4 back in early 2007. I covered the background to the Great Global Warming Swindle coverage in a previous post.


For a more in-depth look, check out DeSmog’s comprehensive research database on the climate denial industry.

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Kevin is a contributor and strategic adviser to DeSmogBlog.

He runs the digital marketing agency Spake Media House. Named a “Green Hero” by Rolling Stone Magazine and one of the “Top 50 Tweeters” on climate change and environment issues, Kevin has appeared in major news media outlets around the world for his work on digital campaigning.

Kevin has been involved in the public policy arena in both the United States and Canada for more than a decade. For five years he was the managing editor of DeSmogBlog.com. In this role, Kevin’s research into the “climate denial industry” and the right-wing think tank networks was featured in news media articles around the world. He is most well known for his ground-breaking research into David and Charles Koch’s massive financial investments in the Republican and tea party networks.

Kevin is the first person to be designated a “Certified Expert” on the political and community organizing platform NationBuilder.

Prior to DeSmogBlog, Kevin worked in various political and government roles. He was Senior Advisor to the Minister of State for Multiculturalism and a Special Assistant to the Minister of State for Asia Pacific, Foreign Affairs for the Government of Canada. Kevin also worked in various roles in the British Columbia provincial government in the Office of the Premier and the Ministry of Health.

In 2008 Kevin co-founded a groundbreaking new online election tool called Vote for Environment which was later nominated for a World Summit Award in recognition of the world’s best e-Content and innovative ICT applications.

Kevin moved to Washington, DC in 2010 where he worked for two years as the Director of Online Strategy for Greenpeace USA and has since returned to his hometown of Vancouver, Canada.

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