stoy , 3 days ago

The goodwill and excellent PR that an accurate weather service generates is worth a huge ammount of money which is why private companies want it.

I remember the Cold War documentary series called “Cold War” (utterly amazing documentary series by the way: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3H6z037pboGWTxs3xGP7H… ), in one episode they interviewed the guy running Radio Free Europe who was very clear with how they got listeners from the east was with good solid news and accurate weather forcasts.

Weather forcasts is probably one of the best sources of content to legitimize propaganda, it is very easy to check, and quickly develop a reputation. There is also zero incentive to embellish the weather report as it will quickly make you look incompetent.