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Complaint to Ofcom Regarding “The Great Global Warming Swindle”

2. Complete Transcript and Rebuttal

[Comment 9: Tim Ball’s credentials with respect to the subjects he discussed in the programme were greatly exaggerated; and his links to fossil-fuel industry–funded lobby groups that campaign against greenhouse gas emissions reductions should have been mentioned and were not. In addition, the direct funding he has received from the fossil fuel industry was not mentioned. For full details, see Appendix C.9, page 134.]

(In breach of the 2003 Communications Act Section 265, Ofcom 5.7, 5.8)

[Nigel Calder]

The whole thing stinks.

[Narrator]

Man-made global warming is no longer just a theory about climate. It is the defining moral and political cause of our age. Campaigners say the time for debate is over. Any criticism, no matter how scientifically rigorous, is illegitimate – even worse, dangerous. But in this film it will shown that the earth’s climate is always changing, that there is nothing unusual about the current temperature, and that the scientific evidence does not support the notion that climate is driven by carbon dioxide, man-made or otherwise. Everywhere you are told that man-made climate change is proved beyond doubt. But you are being told lies.

[Comment 10: The interviewee Nigel Calder may be entitled to accuse almost all of the world’s climate scientists of lying if he wishes. However, this was presented by the programme as a fact rather than an opinion, which is a breach of the Broadcasting Code. For the narrator to repeat this assertion (“you are being told lies”) is moreover a considerable breach of the public’s trust and is outside the remit of Channel 4 under the Communications Act.]

(In breach of the 2003 Communications Act Section 265, Ofcom 5.4, 5.5, 5.7, 5.11, 5.12)

[Dr Tim Ball]	When people say “you don’t believe in global warming,” I say “no, I believe in global warming, I don’t believe that human CO₂ is causing that warming.”
[Dr Nir Shaviv]	A few years ago if you would ask me I would tell you “it’s CO₂,” because just like everyone else in the public I listened to what the media had to say.

[Comment 11: This statement is profoundly misleading in several respects. Taken together with other similar statements by interviewees and by the narrator throughout the Channel 4 programme (see Comment 13, page 18; Comment 33, page 26; Comment 66, page 61; Comment 82, page 72; Comment 96, page 80; Comment 97, page 81; Comment 100, page 84; and Comment 107, page 87), this amounts to a narrative, and to an apparent attempt by the film maker to mislead the public about the nature of the media’s coverage of climate change:

It presents a misleading and wholly outdated view of the relationship between the public and the media. Studies have shown that whilst the public may be made aware of climate change (and other environmental issues) by the media, they do not necessarily accept those views or act upon them (see Stamm et al 2000, http://tinyurl.com/2vgj9f).

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Comment 9: Ball’s credentials, links to lobby groups, and industry funding / Comment 10: Film maker accuses most of the world’s climate scientists of lying / Comment 11: Public accused of believing everything they read]


Page 16 of 176	Final Revision	Last updated: 11 Jun 2007