Letter to Roger Ailes; President, Fox News Channel

Roger Ailes

President

Fox News Channel

1211 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY  10036

VIA FACSIMILE

Dear Mr. Ailes:

It has come to our attention that the Fox News Channel will air an admittedly one-sided special on global warming this weekend, “The Heat is On: The Case of Global Warming.”  

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a prominent agenda-driven environmentalist and registered lobbyist for green causes, is cited as a “special correspondent” for the show.  Further, your producer informs us that Fox intends to run a disclaimer revealing that the network ignored alternative views, including leading scientists who dispute the alarmist position and experts who represent the free-market environmental perspective. Worse, many and possibly most viewers would not even see this disclaimer presented at the show’s beginning. 

It is disturbing that a reputable news network would air so blatantly a one-sided program regardless of any disclaimer. It is even more disappointing when the network in question prides itself on being “Fair and Balanced.” 

The host for the special, Rick Folbaum, writes in a Foxnews.com article that “the vast majority of the scientific community says we’re witnessing a unique and troubling kind of climate change” and that “no one can argue with this.” Many scientists have gone on record disputing this, many of whom are readily available to tell you that science does not support global warming alarmism, and that no one can credibly predict climate change over the next century.  

We sincerely hope, in the interest of fairness and balance, that the Fox News Channel dramatically retools this intentionally biased piece to fairly treat contrary perspectives.

Sincerely,

Fred L. Smith, Jr., President

Myron Ebell, Director of Global Warming and International Environmental Policy

Chris Horner, Counsel, Cooler Heads Coalition and Senior Fellow

Marlo Lewis, Senior Fellow in Environmental Policy

Iain Murray, Senior Fellow in Environmental Policy