CBS's Scott Pelley & Catherine Herrick defend global-warming coverage

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2006/03/22/publiceye/entry1431768.shtml

CBS News
Public Eye

Scott Pelley And Catherine Herrick On Global Warming Coverage
Posted by Brian Montopoli at 10:30 AM : March 23, 2006


This past Sunday, 60 Minutes aired its second report of the season on global warming. Both reports featured correspondent Scott Pelley. Pelley also did a report on New Orleans that dealt with climate change, and he is now exploring different angles for another possible global warming story next season.

I spoke with Pelley and producer Catherine Herrick, who produced Sunday's story with Bill Owens, about why they have become focused on global warming, as well as the nature of their coverage of the topic.

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Pelley's most recent report, like his first, did not pause to acknowledge global warming skeptics, instead treating the existence of global warming as an established fact. I again asked him why. "If I do an interview with Elie Wiesel," he asks, "am I required as a journalist to find a Holocaust denier?" He says his team tried hard to find a respected scientist who contradicted the prevailing opinion in the scientific community, but there was no one out there who fit that description. "This isn't about politics or pseudo-science or conspiracy theory blogs," he says. "This is about sound science."

But doesn't the fact that there are a lot of Americans who are skeptical of global warming – not well respected scientists, perhaps, but ordinary people watching the segment – warrant at least some recognition of the other side? "There becomes a point in journalism where striving for balance becomes irresponsible," says Pelley.

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