The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
NBC meteorologist: cooler waters, not global warming, behind tornadoes; ABC’s newest housing bad guy: the builder; NY Times reporter twice charged with plagiarism disparages salmon industry with another questionable story.

May 14, 2008

The Good
     Global warming alarmists have frequently attributed extreme weather incidents to manmade global warming, but an NBC Weatherplus.com meteorologist burst “Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams’s bubble May 12 when he said recent tornadoes are actually thought to be caused by cooler waters.

     “[I] talked to three people, casual conversation today, all of them smart saying, ‘I don't know, we must be doing something to our Earth.’ So, once and for all, what’s going on here?” Williams asked meteorologist Bill Karins in an interview about tornadoes that have ravaged parts of the southern United States.

     But Karins didn’t give any manmade reasons behind the increased activity. According to Karins, it was the natural phenomenon called La Niña.

     “Well, there are some correlations that can be made,” Karins said. “Global warming – not quite one of them. La Niña [is] more likely.”

     According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), La Niña is unusually cold ocean temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific – not warm ocean temperatures, which would be a result of a warming globe. Karins explained that La Niña is what’s causing the larger tornadoes.

     “All we can really try to do is try find out what the triggers are and try to get people the most warning possible,” Karins explained. “And, one of the new studies that came out was talking about the connection to La Niña. Now that’s actually cooler water in the Pacific. We just got done with that and what these storms do is they tend to produce larger tornadoes. And, this is kind of like a new theory and thinking that’s come out.”

The Bad
     It must be difficult every night for the media to find a fresh angle on the housing downturn. Perhaps the so-called "victim" borrower angle is played out, so ABC's May 7 "Nightline" blamed the builders.

     The broadcast featured Maricopa, Ariz., a community near Phoenix where one in 10 homes is for sale.

     "While existing homes go begging for buyers, builders continued putting up new houses," said ABC correspondent Brian Rooney. "As many as one in 10 of the homes in Maricopa are for sale right now, as builders, banks, homeowners with mortgages they can't afford all compete to sell at lower prices."

     Instead of focusing on the irresponsible lenders or borrowers that created the market for home builders to thrive, "Nightline" blamed builders for capitalizing on the market. The report didn't include anyone speaking on behalf of the homebuilders in that particular Arizona market.

     "I pleaded with [the National Homebuilders Association] that the investors are coming in to town," Maricopa Mayor Kelly Anderson said. "They need to watch what they're doing. One in five homes were sold to an investor. But times are good – they wanted to keep the sales going to satisfy the stockholders in those firms."

The Ugly
     How many times will The New York Times publish a disreputable reporter's work before it learns its lesson?

     Perhaps the third time will be the charm. Alexei Barrionuevo has under come under fire for plagiarism on two separate occasions, but the Times printed a story March 27 ("Salmon Virus Indicts Chile's Fishing Methods") by Barrionuevo anyway, prompting a response from the salmon industry.

     Barrionuevo quotes Adolfo Flores in his article, identifying him as Port Director of Castro, Chiloe Island. But in a letter to the Times May 2, Eric McErlain, writing on behalf of Salmon of the Americas Inc. (an industry group), pointed out major problems with the report.

     "In actuality, Mr. Flores is simply a security guard who works for a third party contractor," McErlain wrote. "I've enclosed an English translation of a letter from Patricio Cuello, the general manager of the Port of Puerto Montt, which administers Castro, confirming this."

     Barrionuevo has been overshadowed by plagiarism charges in the past. A February 27 article posted on Slate.com by Jack Shafer showed a Barrionuevo story published on February 23 lifted two lines from an Aug. 12, 2006 Miami Herald story about "paco," an illicit drug with serious effects that's plaguing Argentina.

     Shortly after that on March 5, Shafer discovered another instance where Barrionuevo plagiarized.

     "A second case of plagiarism by Barrionuevo has come to my attention," Shafer wrote. "On July 15, 2005, Bloomberg News moved a story about the United States lifting ‘mad cow' import restrictions on Canadian cattle. On July 16, 2005, the Times ran a very similar story, also pegged to a conference call with Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns."

     Shafer outlined the four times throughout Barrionuevo's story where he echoed the July 15, 2005, Bloomberg News report. Shafer also pointed out the Times position on plagiarism.

     The Times issued an “Editors’ Note” on page A2 of its May 13 issue apologizing for the misidentification. However, another spokesman for the salmon industry questioned the sincerity of the statement.

The Good, the Bad & the Ugly tracks the best and worst media coverage of business and economics. Readers are invited to submit suggestions or news tips to Staff Writer Jeff Poor at jpoor@mediaresearch.org.