If a government minister thinks the media is paying too much attention to something, look closer.
Edward Davey is the UK Energy Secretary. You’d think he has enough on his plate. Such as the fact that:
- his nation’s natural gas supplies ran dangerously low recently
- sky-high electricity prices are harming the economy of European countries such as his own
- 150 elderly people die of the cold each and every day during UK winter months while his ministry feverishly works to avert global warming
But Davey thinks his most pressing priority is whining about what journalists choose to write about.
The UK media is abuzz after the BBC received an advance, draft copy of a speech Davey is set to deliver. The BCC story describes this speech as
an explosion of anger from a politician who has long been privately frustrated about the extent to which right-wing newspapers have swung Conservative back-benchers behind the climate sceptic cause.
How ridiculous. We all experience frustration with our work. Since when is exploding in anger a constructive response? In a corporate setting, Human Resources personnel would be swinging into action, enrolling Davey in an anger management course.
Journalists – whether they work for right-wing newspapers or the shamelessly left-wing BBC – are part of a system of checks-and-balances that is integral to a healthy, functioning democracy. If a government minister thinks the media is paying too much attention to a particular topic that’s the best indicator we have that we should all be taking a closer look.
What is the government trying to hide? What doesn’t it want us to know?
It’s an odd feature of the climate debate. This is supposed to be the most urgent crisis of our time. A crisis scary enough to justify trillions of dollars in expenditures. A crisis that demands, as a response, nothing short of the complete overhaul of the world’s economic system.
But open and honest dialogue isn’t allowed. Airing a full range of opinions and viewpoints isn’t permitted. Only one group of activists and lobbyists are entitled to sympathetic media coverage.
Everyone else is expected to shut up, sit down, and meekly comply. Didn’t you get the memo? Alternative perspectives have been banished from the public square.
And then bullies like Ed Davey wonder why they can’t make any progress. They actually complain about how frustrated they feel.
