BBC Forced To Withdraw Fake Sea Level Claims
http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/comp-reports/ecu/theworldatone270317
Readers may recall an item on the BBC World at One back in March about rising sea levels in Florida, when their correspondent claimed that:
1) Rising seas and flooding are turning Miami Beach into a modern day Atlantis, the city being submerged by water.
2) Sea levels at Miami are rising at ten times the global rate.
I covered the story here.
I complained to the BBC at the time, and, after being fobbed off the first time, escalated the complaint to the Executive Complaints Unit, who have now published the above judgment.
Astonishingly, they regard the claims about “Atlantis” to be “soundly based”, even though they now accept that sea levels around Miami are only rising at about 8 inches a century.
Of course, they had no choice but to withdraw the ludicrous claim about “ten times the global rate”!
But why on earth does the World at One need to be reminded that they should not make scientific claims without actually checking the facts first? For that matter, why has not this instruction gone out to all news and documentary programmes and news sites as well?
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