The man who ran Sky News for 17 years up until this spring has told the Climate Show With Tom Heap that the way media outlets are covering climate change is “pretty poor” and they are “not doing their job”.

John Ryley, who stood down from the top job at the award-winning channel in April, also said he believes his own efforts to deliver sufficient climate coverage had “failed”.

He was interviewed about a new book he co-edited called Toxic News? Covering Climate Change which features essays from academics and journalists on the challenges of reporting the subject.

“It poses an existential threat to the planet and the humans on it and I wanted to know what other journalists thought about the quality of reporting,” he added.

But as a journalist and news executive himself with a career spanning more than 30 years he has his own views.

Mr Ryley said: “Newsdesks, in my experience, are rather reluctant to pursue climate change stories because they feel they know the answers – that the planet is heating up – and there’s no news story in it.

“It needs to be on the front burner otherwise people will just think ‘Oh we’re all fine’. It’s not fine. And this year is on track to be the hottest year on record.”

Kim Kardashian criticised by Greenpeace over ‘nipple bra’ promo video

Glasgow City Council makes almost £500,000 from LEZ fines

Prince William announces winners of Earthshot Prize in Singapore at star-studded ceremony

He also has some agreement with campaigners who often accuse the media of failing to tell the whole truth about climate change.

‘I failed’

Mr Ryley added: “I think newsdesks are not taking seriously enough their responsibility to alert the public to what is happening.”

Read more from Sky News:
Kim Kardashian criticised by Greenpeace over ‘nipple bra’ promo video
XR climate activists who smashed HSBC windows are found not guilty of criminal damage
UN tells world ‘get a grip’ as 1.5C target being missed

When asked about his time in charge, he said: “I failed…I failed because, I hope, I ran things in a consensual way and often the newsdesk was reluctant to pursue the story saying ‘Oh, we know that, John. We know the planet is heating up.’

“And it was an uphill struggle.

“News is about what is relevant and significant.

“Newsdesks are very happy to report day after day what’s going on in Ukraine or what going on in the Middle East. Rightly so. They should cover the environment day after day.”

Click to subscribe to ClimateCast with Tom Heap wherever you get your podcasts

He had particular criticism for coverage of last week’s King’s Speech in which the government laid out proposals for more oil and gas drilling in the North Sea.

Ryley said: “It wasn’t on the front pages that the government had made some very significant U-turns on oil production.

“And that shows us sort of a certain sort of supine nature, I think, in the journalism that reports on climate change.”

He went on to urge journalists to make their climate stories exciting and imaginative to grab audiences and make it relevant.

Disclosure: Tom Heap wrote the preface to the above book but has not and will not receive any income from it

Related posts:

‘Culture of misogyny’ could mean men get more lenient sentences – commissioners Fire at flats which killed five-year-old boy was started deliberately, police believe Wayne Couzens handcuffed and arrested Sarah Everard before killing her, court hears Eleven Insulate Britain protesters arrested after blocking M25 for seventh time despite injunction Cute alert! First baby seals of the season spotted on Norfolk beach One person taken to hospital after group gets into ‘distress’ on Pembrokeshire river Russia’s next attack may be ‘more brutal’, RAF chief says Electric bike caused Bristol tower block fire which resulted in man’s death, investigators say Liz Truss had to be convinced to issue govt statement to calm markets after meeting with chancellor A Sky News presenter can now read you our articles – here’s how Man, 23, in court charged with murder Van gets stuck on beach as tide comes in