Yesterday morning climate change sceptic Ian Plimer was interviewed on theToday programme. This stunning occurrence caused outrage among eco-activists. The Media Lens message board went 
Climate alert - hell freezes briefly
>> FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2009
nuclear wind turbine over the issue. Among the many who complained to the BBC was Green Party councillorDr Rupert Read. The response he received from Today programme assistant editor Roger Hermiston included this admission:We reflect the orthodoxy in the climate change debate, day in, day out, 300-365 days a year. Just every so often - and it is very rarely- we take a look at other opinions… And to talk about the "oxygen of publicity " at 8.53 in the morning is, I would respectfully suggest, getting things a little out of proportion.
So even when they "very rarely" look at these other opinions, they do it well away from prime time. It's not telling us anything we don't know, but it's nice to see it in writing.
Dr Read sent a follow-up email in which he stated pompously:"I teach at the University of East Anglia, the world's premier climate science institutions [sic]"
The email doesn't mention his speciality, but his Wikipedia entry does:Rupert Read is a Green Party of England and Wales politician, Reader in philosophy at the University of East Anglia
Ian Plimer, on the other hand, is merely the Professor of Mining Geology in the Geology and Geophysics department of the School of Earth & Environmental Sciences at the University of Adelaide. How dare the BBC interview him about the climate when there are philosophers on hand!
I note also the opening line of Read's reply:Dear Mr. Hermiston;
Who else has ever received any kind of response from the Today programme, let alone a swift one?
Thanks for writing back, and so swiftly.
Update. Via David Thompson, here's a promo clip for a forthcoming edition of BBC World Service programme The Forum in which artist Antony Gormley "reflects the orthodoxy" (as Roger Hermiston might say):
Friday, 13 November 2009
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