Years and years after CNN laid off all its environmental journalists, Soledad O'Brien did a piece on mountaintop removal. Kate Sheppard says it "starts from the same tired tropes ... and misses the bigger questions."
"It's not often that cable news covers complex environmental or labor issues, so I was hopeful when I heard that CNN's Soledad O'Brien was doing a piece on the battle over Blair Mountain for the CNN In America series. I wrote about this site of a historic labor battle that coal companies are seeking to blow up in a piece last November, and the fight still rages on. Unfortunately, though, the CNN piece starts from the same tired tropes to talk about the issue and misses the bigger questions about mountain top removal coal mining.
The headline on the web piece is your first sign that the piece needs some help: 'Steady job or healthy environment: What would you choose?' The story, posted in short clips online, has a number of flaws."
Kate Sheppard reports for Mother Jones August 15, 2011.
SEE ALSO:
SEE ALSO:
"Mixed Narrative: More on CNN and Blair Mountain" (Coal Tatoo/Ken Ward Jr.)
"CNN's Mountaintop Removal Doc Garners Praise, Anger, And Everything in Between" (NRDC/Melissa Waage)
"Removing Mountaintops Yields Coal, Controversy" (CNN)
"Dear Soledad: Appalachians Respond to CNN’s Blair Mountain Special on Mountaintop Removal" (Alternet/Jeff Biggers)
"CNN Doc On Mountaintop Removal Falls Flat" (Think Progress Green/Brad Johnson)
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