Mass March Accuses Mainstream Media of Irresponsibility in Its "Coverage" of the Climate Crisis
Photo: Brian McHale
April 15, 2022
Extinction Rebellion in Mass March Accuses Mainstream Media of Irresponsibility in Its "Coverage" of the Climate Crisis
New York, NY – On Friday, hundreds of protesters marched between the headquarters of NBC News and ABC News to draw attention to the lack of serious media coverage about the climate emergency. This mass march was the first major action of Extinction Rebellion's Spring 2022 Uprising, in which the organization is taking to the next level its resistance to the dangerously inadequate public response to impending catastrophic climate change.
"It's quite literally now or never. Climate scientists are saying this is the final warning, and that carbon emissions must peak by 2025. Why isn't the media covering this? I feel like we're living through the movie Don't Look Up," said Mun Chong, one of the organizers of the march.
Michael Bruffee, an educator who attended the march, echoed this sentiment: "The latest IPCC report spells it out clearly: we have only a tiny sliver of time to cut global emissions in half and avert total climate catastrophe. Yet Will Smith's slap has made a bigger dent in the news cycle."
In 2021, climate represented just 1% of overall coverage on corporate broadcast morning, nightly, and Sunday morning news shows.
Friday's event was the first of four mass marches to take place during the Spring 2022 Uprising, a 10-day series of acts of civil disobedience to demand climate action at the levels of mass media, government and finance.
Co-Sponsors of the event were NY Communities for Change (@ny4change), 350 NYC (@350nyc), 350 Brooklyn (@350brooklyn), Rise & Resist (@risenresistnyc), Fridays for Future NYC (@fff.nyc), and End Climate Silence (@EndClimtSilence)
Photos and videos of the event can be found here.
Photo: Brian McHale
About Extinction Rebellion
Time has almost entirely run out to address the climate & ecological crisis, including the sixth mass extinction, global pollution, and abrupt, runaway climate change. Societal collapse and mass death are seen as inevitable by scientists and other credible voices if rapid action is not taken.
Extinction Rebellion believes it is a citizen’s duty to rebel, using peaceful civil disobedience, when faced with criminal inactivity by their Government.
Extinction Rebellion’s key demands are:
1. Government must tell the truth by declaring a climate and ecological emergency, working with other institutions to communicate the urgency for change.
2. Government must act now to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025.
3. Government must create and be led by the decisions of a Citizens’ Assembly on climate and ecological justice.
4. Government must commit to a just transition in order to maintain a livable, just planet for all.
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