In response to pressure from Democratic and environmental activists, DNC chair Tom Perez rejected the idea of holding a climate debate, because it "Would be putting our thumb on the scale"-presumably not in favor of the planet, but on behalf of Jay Inslee, the candidate who requested the debate.
Inslee is far from the only candidate in favor of such a debate, as Perez suggested; more importantly, Democratic voters overwhelmingly want a climate debate, and they consistently name climate change and the environment as top issues.
Never fear; corporate media will take care of it: "I have the utmost confidence that, based on our conversations with networks, climate change will be discussed early and often during our party's primary debates," Perez wrote.
Even if the debates do raise climate questions, the particulars of the questions matter.
In an entire debate devoted to climate change, candidates would be hard-pressed to evade specifics, but in two-hour events covering a wide range of issues, viewers will be lucky to get more than a couple of minutes on what is arguably the most complex emergency facing the next president-and some candidates will almost certainly escape climate questions entirely.
In the 2016 primaries, corporate media included right-wing commentator Hugh Hewitt alongside CNN anchors to question Republican primary candidates; no progressive commentator was included in a Democratic debate.
Of course, if corporate media's goal were an informed electorate, voters would already know more about the candidates' positions than about their jockeying in the polls, and the debates would carry less weight.
https://fair.org/home/previewing-the-democratic-debates-every-flavor-of-nbc-trusting-corporate-media-on-climate/
Inslee is far from the only candidate in favor of such a debate, as Perez suggested; more importantly, Democratic voters overwhelmingly want a climate debate, and they consistently name climate change and the environment as top issues.
Never fear; corporate media will take care of it: "I have the utmost confidence that, based on our conversations with networks, climate change will be discussed early and often during our party's primary debates," Perez wrote.
Even if the debates do raise climate questions, the particulars of the questions matter.
In an entire debate devoted to climate change, candidates would be hard-pressed to evade specifics, but in two-hour events covering a wide range of issues, viewers will be lucky to get more than a couple of minutes on what is arguably the most complex emergency facing the next president-and some candidates will almost certainly escape climate questions entirely.
In the 2016 primaries, corporate media included right-wing commentator Hugh Hewitt alongside CNN anchors to question Republican primary candidates; no progressive commentator was included in a Democratic debate.
Of course, if corporate media's goal were an informed electorate, voters would already know more about the candidates' positions than about their jockeying in the polls, and the debates would carry less weight.
https://fair.org/home/previewing-the-democratic-debates-every-flavor-of-nbc-trusting-corporate-media-on-climate/
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