If reports of climate change skeptics or deniers downsize in the next few weeks, it’s not that said deniers have woken up to the realities of global warming. The AP memo notes some argue the term “has the pejorative ring of Holocaust denier” and advised journalists to avoid using it.
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Scientists who consider themselves real sceptics, such as those who debunk mysticism and other pseudoscience claims, have long complained about the use of the term “climate sceptic”, arguing many of those attacking the scientific consensus on climate change are not demonstrating true scientific scepticism.
Doubting or rejecting the science on climate change no longer makes someone a “skeptic” or “denier” in the views of a leading news organization.
However, Lindsay cautioned that replacing “skeptic” with the term “doubter” remains problematic.
Rather than use the words “denier” or “skeptic”, the AP suggests using “doubter” and it explained its reasoning in a blog post Tuesday.
CSI did praise the AP for the classification of “those who reject mainstream climate science“.
Use of the term “denier” is accurate in some cases, says Ed Maibach, a climate communications researcher at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.
The AP is basically telling journalists that climate change is accepted science and there are no two sides to the issue; there’s the side with expert support and evidence… and the side with people who don’t accept that.
“They say they aren’t skeptics because ‘proper skepticism promotes scientific inquiry, critical investigation and the use of reason in examining controversial and extraordinary claims, ‘” the trio wrote.
Ronald Lindsay, CEO of the Center for Inquiry, which has offices in Washington, D.C., and Amherst, New York, agrees that “doubter” isn’t a great substitute for “skeptic” or “denier”. Referring to deniers as “doubters” still imbues those who reject scientific fact with an intellectual legitimacy they have not earned.
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Though he was apparently in on the discussions relating to the change, AP science writer Seth Borenstein, who at times seemed to have taken a special liking for the term “denier”, will be among those most affected by its termination. “The general public, we fear, will still not get a clear picture of which public figures are basing their positions on reality, and which are not”.
