Rex Murphy's View of the Earth

In a recent post, I pointed out that Rex Murphy is spouting climate denial based on the testimony of two self-annointed climate ‘experts,’ McIntrye and McKitrick. Quack #1 is a former mining stock promoter, and #2 is an economist. But who knows more about the science of global warming than stock promoters and economists, eh?

Rex can’t handle the truth because it contradicts his economic beliefs. Like many, Rex doesn’t understand that the economy is part of the environment, not the other way around. Rex Murphy is a modern-day inquisitor, terrified that a new view of the world will upset his privileged place, and I say the CBC should not be paying him to propagandize. I’ve discussed the deniers in greater depth on my climate change blog: The Great Global Warming Inquisition: Where Scientists are Galileo and the Church is Market Fundamentalism.

On InformedVote, it is important to point out how Rex Murphy is skewing our political understanding and corrupting our democracy. How can you be an informed voter if people are given national platforms to spew lies? Many people listen to Murphy and assume that the CBC would not allow him to tell blatant falsehoods or rely upon sources that any cub reporter would be thrown out of the editor’s office for using. Unfortunately, Rex is doing both.

When leaders in high places consistently say the same thing, and other leaders in high places do not contradict them, many people come to believe what they are being told. This is neither surprising nor new; it is why every dictator seeks to control the media. The principle is well explained in Don’t Think of an Elephant, and is how the Republicans were so successful at convincing people to vote against their own best interests – and may yet be again.

The Deniers deny science and the truths it discovers when those truths are inconvenient. They are more than happy to use scientific knowledge for cancer treatments, but flat-heaven forbid it state that global warming is dangerous and that perhaps our economic model needs to be adjusted to stop it.

I have asked the CBC Ombudsman and the CRTC to look into Rex Murphy’s show, and specifically why it is not fact-checked in the same way the rest of the news is. The Ombudsman has “shared [my complaint] with Jennifer McGuire, General Manager and Editor in Chief of CBC News, along with the request that your concerns be addressed.” That was December 7; no response from Ms. McGuire yet.

I encourage everyone to demand that Murphy’s segment meet the same standards of The National; write to the Ombudsman.

Related posts:

1. CBC: Keeping Canadian Voters Confused by Paying Rex Murphy to Spout Nonsense on Climate Change How can we expect Canadians to vote in an informed...
2. The CBC, Rex Murphy, and Putting Facts in Context I returned to my favorite blog-site intending to write about...
3. CBC and The National: “it is not the CBC’s obligation to determine what is ‘truth’” I recently posted this article: “CBC: Keeping Canadian Voters Confused...
4. The So-Called Problem of Rex Murphy, Holocaust Deniers, and the CBC – Why We Need Free Speech! As of late anyone reading InformedVote will have noticed the...
5. Truth by Consensus: CBC’s The National Not Obligated to Determine the Truth In a previous post, I slagged the CBC and Rex...

Tags: canadian politics, cbc, climate change, Environment, global warming, rex murphy

This entry was posted on Friday, December 11th, 2009 at 5:32 pm and is filed under Environment, Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.