MSNBC v. The Daily Wire: DeSantis's Stance on Climate Change and Extreme Weather in Florida

 

At a press conference this past Thursday in St Lucie County, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis responded to suggestions that the recent series of extreme weather events in Florida was caused by global warming. DeSantis stated how extreme weather has happened throughout history and that the recent events are nothing new. 

MSNBC: “As Florida reels from Hurricane Milton, DeSantis again dismisses the role of climate change”

•  At a press conference Thursday in St. Lucie County, DeSantis once again dismissed the impact of climate change even as the severity of damage caused by Hurricane Milton became clear. 
• “It is hurricane season. You are going to have tropical weather,”
• DeSantis equated hurricane-related conspiracy theories with scientists pointing out that human activity drives climate change.
• Responding to a question about the disinformation around hurricanes, DeSantis stated: “Look, if I could control the weather, I would do, you know, 78 and sunny year-round. And this is on both sides. You kind of have some people think government can do this, and others think it’s all because of fossil fuels. The reality is, is what we see — there’s precedent for all this in history.”
• Climate scientists have linked the warming planet with the ferocity of hurricanes. Hotter ocean waters speed up tropical storms and cause their wind speeds to increase quickly. 
• A report from the World Weather Attribution found that Hurricane Helene had greater rainfall and faster wind speeds due to climate change. 
• At the conference, DeSantis also stated: “I just think people should put this in perspective. They try to take different things that happen with tropical weather and act like it’s something — there’s nothing new under the sun.”
• Florida is a state that is very vulnerable to natural disasters.
• Republican leaders in the state have often dismissed the impact of climate change. 
• DeSantis, in May, signed legislation that lessened climate change’s priority in Florida and removed most mentions of it from state law.

The Daily Wire: “DeSantis Shuts Down Reporter For Tying Tornadoes, Hurricanes To Global Warming”

• On Thursday during a press conference, DeSantis mocked a reporter who suggested that the recent series of extreme weather events in Florida was caused by global warming. 
• DeSantis’s remarks come after Florida was hit by two hurricanes and dozens of tornadoes in the last couple of weeks. 
• DeSantis stated: “I think you can go back and find tornadoes for all of human history” He noted that Hurricane Milton was not the most powerful hurricane in the state’s history.
• DeSantis noted that Milton had a barometric pressure of approximately 950 millibars when it made landfall. He went on to say: “If you go back to 1851, there’s probably been 27 hurricanes that have had lower barometric, so the lower the barometric pressure, the stronger it is. I think there have been about 27 hurricanes that have had lower barometric pressure on landfall than Milton did, and of those, 17 occurred I think prior to 1960.”
• DeSantis mentioned that Florida’s most powerful hurricane on record since the 1850s occurred in the 1930s with a barometric pressure of 892 millibars.
• Florida’s deadliest hurricane occurred in 1928 and killed more than 4,000 people. 
• DeSantis stated that people should put the extreme weather into perspective and realize it is nothing new. It has always happened and always will. 
• DeSantis thinks that what has changed is more people are living in the state meaning there’s a greater chance that a storm will hit people or property than there was 100 years ago. He also believes that the ability to do prevention and pre-stage assets has changed. 

Discussion: I feel like it was clear reading these two articles that MSNBC is a liberal-leaning news outlet while The Daily Wire is a conservative-leaning news outlet. As DeSantis is a Republican, The Daily Wire wrote in a way that supported him while MSNBC seemed to criticize him. I think The Daily Wire article did a better job of sticking to the facts of the event they were reporting on. They only mentioned DeSantis's statements and did not add any alternative perspectives. Meanwhile, I think that the MSNBC article missed some of the main points DeSantis made at the conference but provided alternative perspectives.

 I think it would be ideal for a news outlet to find a balance between reporting on what was said and providing the other side of the story. This would allow readers to understand why there is conflict or disagreement between people who hold different ideological viewpoints. Providing facts about the other side of the story would allow viewers to make more informed and educated decisions. I think this could also help combat the spread of misinformation and bridge the partisan divide. What do you think, should journalists provide alternative perspectives or only report the information given at a particular event?