Climate News Network

by Christopher C. Horner

This is pretty pathetic. CNN commissions a poll to assist with a week’s worth of Senate hearings and one in the House all designed to breathe life into the Senate’s counter to Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade energy rationing legislation. The express point of that scheme is to raise energy prices, which outcome our president has boasted as being to cause electricity (actually, all) energy prices to “necessarily skyrocket”, “bankrupt[ing]” many firms.

CNN-entrance

The poll, splashed with a pretty clear headline, ran to one question.  Er, wait. They’re only pushing one question and its answer. No drilling down provided, though it may have been pursued. The poll actually appears to be at least 16 questions long, though when linking to the pdf for the “full results”, you get one question and answer.

How much editorializing/cheerleading does CNN do about this apparently selective snapshot? Well, the question-and-answer in their entirety total 68 words, which led to CNN providing, ah, context and texture to the public’s voice– to sell the question-and-answer to the public if not to add any meaning or context to the question itself for those responding to the poll — nearly six times as many (390 words plus headline).

See anything about cost or impact in there to add any context or meaning to the question, and to the answer? Or do you see “do you want to tell other people to do something about the environment and punish them if they don’t”? Verily, I say, the Senate should legislate now!

Or, not. The wording of the question is clearly a push poll. It doesn’t mention that this will increase costs to respondents, just to “companies” (which as we all know can afford it and don’t pass it along, anyway). And yet only six in ten failed to see through it (including, I admit, some number who simply agree to that blanket statement no matter what. And just like some people will always have Paris, we’ll always have San Francisco).

That’s nothing but advocacy from CNN. And weak, at that. This gets more encouraging every day.


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Posted Oct 27th 2009 at 1:15 pm in Environment, Media Criticism | 25 Comments