Yesterday Guido brought you the list of names the BBC has spent six years trying to keep secret, revealing the “scientists” who set the Beeb’s editorial climate policy were nothing more than a crackpot assortment of pseudo-experts and hippy campaigners. Guido can now exclusively reveal what was discussed at the infamous meeting. Held under Chatham House rules, the quotes that have surfaced make for very interesting reading.

An academic paper containing evidence from previous seminars shows that “specialists” and BBC bosses admitted their editorial stance could be exaggerating the risks of climate change. An anonymous documentary maker explains: “shots might be set up this way, with the member of the public saying I’m suffering (from global warming) even if the causal link cannot be directly drawn”. According to one media specialist, “on account of the weak understanding of science, there are now instances of coverages that exaggerate the risk of climate change… this is unthinkable in spheres such as economics or politics”. Unbelievably, these unnamed journalists are admitting  exaggerating the risks of climate change.

The report concludes that the seminar highlighted the “tangled web” of the BBC’s editorial policy on climate change, finding that output would often form a “mis-translation” of the truth.  The extent of bias in reporting led to “comparisons with the evident normative stance in editorial lines on terrorism, human rights, and child labor”. The BBC spent a six-figure sum to keep this secret. Now we know why…