Officials don’t yet know the initial cause of the fires that began ripping through Los Angeles on January 7 — but we do know that a hotter and drier climate created the perfect conditions for multiple massive wildfires. 2024 has the distinction of being the first year on record to average 1.6°C warming, and it seems likely that 2025 will follow suit. For those clued in to the climate crisis, watching LA burn feels like a sign that the predicted climate collapse is already upon us.
But you won’t find reflections like these in the mainstream media. Since the LA fires began, cinema-quality shots of reporters leading viewers through the flame-ravaged landscape have filled the media sphere, while climate change has taken a back seat. You’d be forgiven for thinking you were watching a behind-the-scenes special for an action blockbuster — not the real-life burning up of the planet.
“Our team is in the fire zone as the flames rage tonight,” said Lester Holt, opening NBC Nightly News’s first night of fire coverage on January 7. Across the networks, reporters dressed in fire-retardant gear braved the growing flames. One reporter screamed to be heard over raging fires as houses burned all around him and a cloud of black smoke swallowed the sky; reporters walked through lanes of abandoned cars left by residents forced to flee the flames on foot; reporters intercepted residents as they fled their burning homes, some clutching a few cherished possessions; one journalist reported on special counsel Jack Smith’s resignation in front of smoldering remains; another took viewers on a drive through his old neighborhood before FaceTiming his own mother in front of their old house, which had burned down. “Reporting on danger inside the fire zone,” read one chyron. Graphics depicting flames and embers preceded title cards reading “56+ square miles burned” and “12,000 structures damaged or destroyed.”
You’d be forgiven for…
Auteur: Ashley Bishop
