Our Demands
The free press has a moral obligation to Tell the Truth about the emergency. However, our news media is failing to Tell the Truth about the nature and severity of the climate and ecological emergency. Its refusal to give the climate and ecological emergency the coverage it deserves means it is not fulfilling the function it serves.
Our Tell the Truth Campaign has six central demands that, if adopted by the Washington Post CNN and other major outlets, would revolutionize American coverage of the biggest story in human history.
Washington Post and CNN ban all fossil fuel adverts
This is the headline we want to see.
Currently, both CNN and The Washington Post take advertising money from the life-destroying fossil fuel industry, including some of the world’s biggest climate criminals like ExxonMobil, Shell, and BP. Instead of telling the truth, these media outlets are actively participating in the deception of their audiences.
These crooked corporations are driving the climate crisis and mass extinction.
Tell the truth
Extinction Rebellion DC targets Washington Post and CNN with Tell the Truth Campaign
The climate and ecological emergency is here. Mass extinction is well underway. People are suffering and dying. One million species are on the brink of extinction. Starvation, war and pestilence are coming. The breakdown of society is now a very real possibility. Our children are not safe.
If this were a war we’d be reading about the crisis Every. Single. Day. This is the biggest story in human history and yet, according to Yale polling, 53 percent of the people in this country do not hear about the biggest emergency facing humanity. Only one in 10 Americans feel “very well informed” about an existential threat.
That means outlets like CNN and The Washington Post are failing the American public because they are failing to tell the truth about the scale of the emergency.
Public pressure on governments can bring about tremendous change. But before people can act, they need to be well-informed.
Get Involved
We are in the midst of a climate and ecological emergency. Our futures — and those of our children — grow bleaker every day. War, disease, and famine lie ahead on a scale that humans have never suffered before. The free press has a moral obligation to Tell the Truth to the public. By refusing to give the climate and ecological crisis the coverage it deserves, and by taking ad revenue from fossil fuel companies, CNN and The Washington Post are failing to inform people about the story of the century. We demand they treat the climate and ecological crisis with the urgency it deserves. Help us demand that they Tell the Truth!
Washington Post fails to Tell The Truth about the most seminal story in human history
The Washington Post’s slogan is “Democracy Dies in Darkness”. The Post must wake up to the severity of the unfolding climate and ecological catastrophe. It must mobilize all its resources — its collective intelligence, editorial flare and skill, and thirst for the truth — to protect life. Democracy will not survive on a dead planet.
The Post is lagging behind its competitors, including The Guardian and The New York Times, in terms of the quantity and quality of its reporting on the climate and ecological emergency.
Fact-Checking the Emergency
Here are some facts and figures to help journalists talk about the climate and ecological catastrophe in ways that convey the severity of the planetary crisis. All of these facts have been fact-checked and endorsed by XR’s large and diverse team of climate scientists and ecologists. It is fully up-to-date as of June 2020. Please refer to the Emergency on Planet Earth document for further info, and for all links and primary sources.
Suggest Real Solutions
Our current economic, cultural and political system is largely to blame for the climate and ecological crisis. And yet too often newspapers and news broadcasters regurgitate soothing technical balms or promote individual action as the only solution to the crisis.
A style guide for the Climate and Ecological Crisis
The terms global warming and climate change are often used interchangeably, but neither adequately reflects the emergency we now face.
Instead, media outlets should use climate crisis or climate emergency to refer to the ongoing breakdown of the environment and the societal collapse that will occur if we do not mitigate this crisis. Catastrophic climate destabilization is also acceptable. Do not use the terms climate change or global warming.
