OTTAWA – A damning new report released by the Petrol Centre for Climate Studies has revealed that over 95% of documentary films featuring data on climate change have “unequivocal” biases that promote the viewpoint that global warming is a real phenomenon and that there are ways to curb its negative consequences.
“When scrutinized, it is clear that documentary filmmakers are selectively choosing to incorporate facts and data that demonstrate the negative effects of global warming, the scientific reasons for why it is happening, and the links to manmade contributions,” the study read in part. “What these documentary filmmakers leave out, however, such as non-scientific data and persuasive rhetoric from climate change deniers, speaks to the directors’ biases and makes these documentaries of questionable value to the general public.”
A contributor to the study, researcher Eltona Mandows, cautioned against accepting documentaries on global warming issues as reliable texts due to their heavily biased .
“We have to acknowledge who backs these pro-environment documentaries: scientists, educators, farmers and various lobbyists representing endangered species. Yet there is no say from loggers, oil companies and miners about the potential benefits of this phenomenon.”
Mandows added: “As with any form of promoting a stance based on long-standing empirical support from the scientific community, it is important to keep in mind there are always alternate viewpoints based on hidden-agendas and lack of information that are equally worth considering.”
The study also found that most documentaries about capitalism, pharmaceuticals, and politics, similarly used biased strategies of exclusively incorporating facts and well-reasoned conclusions.
