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Meteorologist leaves Iowa after death threats for reporting on climate change [1]

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Date: 2023-06-23  

Via USA TODAY

An Iowa meteorologist's climate change coverage led to a death threat. He's now resigning. Iowa meteorologist Chris Gloninger wanted to share facts about how climate change impacts weather with his viewers - and engage with deniers. But after a death threat, he's embarking on a new chapter.

Eric Lagatta reports on the story, citing how Gloniger’s childhood experiences with Hurricane Bob and the devastation extreme weather can cause led him to make a point of reporting on climate change as part of his job as a tv meteorologist.

...It's why late in his career as a meteorologist, Gloninger began making it a point to regularly educate his audience about the effects of climate change — an interest he maintained when he joined Des Moines, Iowa's CBS affiliate KCCI in 2021. But Gloninger's coverage of what has become a highly-politicized topic drew the ire of some of the station's viewership, eventually crescendoing last summer in a death threat. The vitriol Gloninger received is partly what attributed to his decision to depart from the station next month, ending an 18-year career in meteorology, Gloninger told USA TODAY on Thursday.

While Gloniger has said many in his audience appreciated his efforts, there were those who objected.

...When he joined KCCI in July 2021 as a chief meteorologist, he continued his coverage of the growing climate crisis, relating for viewers how it manifested in the Des Moines area. For instance, when smoke drifting across the United States earlier in June caused air quality issues across the country, Gloninger said he sought to inform viewers not only about whether their air was safe to breath, but how the fire was fueled by Earth's violently changing weather. "There's no question people did like it, and there are a lot of Iowans who appreciate it," Gloninger said. ...But last June, Gloninger began exchanging emails with a man from Lenox, Iowa whose string of vitriolic messages accusing the meteorologist of being a liberal conspiracy theorist and a "Biden puppet" became increasingly concerning. The man eventually pled guilty in August to misdemeanor harassment for sending the threatening messages and incurred a $105 fine in the Iowa District Court for Polk County, according to a criminal complaint.

Gloniger is moving to Massachusetts for a job with the Woods Hole Group as senior scientist advising communities on climate issues. The stress from dealing with the vitriol he was receiving for climate coverage was taking a toll on him and his family. When it escalated to the level of a potential death threat, that led him to pursue the move. (It also puts him closer to family.)

The NY Times also covered the story, with a report by Orlando Mayorquin with more details quoting what was seen as a death threat.

...“What’s your home address, we conservative Iowans would like to give you an Iowan welcome you will never forget,” read one of the emails, dated June 24, 2022, that Mr. Gloninger shared. The email appeared to allude to an episode last year in which a man was arrested on charges of attempting to murder Justice Brett Kavanaugh of the Supreme Court. ...The police identified Danny Hancock, of Lenox, Iowa, as the person who made the threat and charged him last August with third-degree harassment, The Iowa Capital Dispatch reported. Mr. Hancock accused Mr. Gloninger of peddling a “liberal conspiracy theory” because of his interest in global climate trends in his on-air forecasts. Mr. Hancock, 64, who could not be reached by phone Thursday, pleaded guilty and was issued a $180.75 fine, according to court records.

(Charlie Pierce has some trenchant observations on Iowa’s current governor and the state of the state.)

The USA TODAY story contains an additional bit of alarming information:

Theoretically, democracy depends on an informed electorate that is able to choose elected leaders on the basis of their ability to address problems and govern based on actual facts. The rising tide of authoritarianism depends on “flooding the zone with shit” to the point that no one knows what to believe or whom to trust.

And here we are.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/6/23/2177245/-Meteorologist-leaves-Iowa-after-death-threats-for-reporting-on-climate-change

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