Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. Australia, an influential outlet in the nation, is reportedly ending its decades long skeptical coverage of climate change. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the company will run a two-week campaign that will encourage a carbon net zero target by 2050.
Multiple sources, on the condition of anonymity, said that it will be spearheaded by columnist and former Studio 10 host Joe Hildebrand. Sky News will also feature the cause, but The Australian will not do so, though it will tone down its editorial on the issue.
The timing has been reportedly fixed to coincide with the November United Nations’ Climate Change conference. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and President Joe Biden have been championing the case of zero omissions and have encouraged wealthy nations to follow suit.
Sources within News Corp have said that the media group has also faced pressure from its advertisers. Corporate leaders including Woolworths, Macquarie Group and Telstra have been bring their green trends forward and this also has an effect on its advertising campaigns.
Some mining companies are also looking at zero emissions by 2050. Banks, insurers, and investors are no longer supporting the fossil fuel industry as they know that it is a larger contributor to the negative effects of climate change.
News Corp. insiders say that the group is also changing its focus according to its readers’ beliefs and views. Subscribers in Australia are also playing a role in advocating the reality of climate change as the world is facing wildfires, floods, drought, extreme heat and more.
A recent exclusive survey conducted in June by research company Resolve Strategic for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age reported that most Australians were in favor of the federal government cutting greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.
However, skeptics such as former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who was often attacked by News Corp. Professor Mann, an expert on climate change, Richie Merzian, the climate and energy program director at the Australia Institute and other experts are both hopeful and skeptical about the new coverage by News Corp. about the reality of climate change. Turnbull said that he was “not going to give them credit for something they haven’t done yet.
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