Americans' trust in the news media is already at an all-time low, and now there's yet another reason to be skeptical of what you read, see, or hear. Climate activists are using big money to buy their way into newsrooms and get favorable stories under the guise of legitimate news. Even the Associated Press appears to have fallen prey to this tactic, with a recent story casting Joe Biden's environmental policies in a positive light. Critics point out this came after the AP received $8 million in grants to launch a "Climate Journalism Initiaive."
"Eight million dollars is a lot of money, and it does not come without any strings attached," says Larry Bahrens, writer and communications director for the pro-energy group Power The Future. "That's what we're finding out not only on the national scale with the AP, but in local newsrooms as well."
Bahrens tells KTRH these climate groups also offer grants to newsrooms and journalists who are often cash-strapped and struggling to keep up in the digital age. But in order to receive the money, the media entities must agree to cover certain stories, and cover them in a certain way. "And so it's really lucrative for some young journalists to get these grants, sometimes into the thousands of dollars, then cover the stories the activists want covered and get paid for it," he says.
"Then these articles get syndicated, they get spread, they get shared on social media, and they get accepted as fact," he continues.
This has essentially created a national network of mainstream reporters and journalists pushing the climate agenda. "The AP said the grant money for their Climate Journalism Initiative helped them hire 20 reporters," says Bahrens. "Do you think those reporters are going to give a fair shake to the oil and natural gas industry? No, of course not."
"It's not just the stories they cover, it's in what they ignore," he continues. "Like the important aspects of what energy does for Americans...that stuff never seems to make it into print."
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