Is this bc weather reports affirm climate change, and having the weather report doctored will help oil and coal companies pollute as much as they want without public backlash?
It’s because the person that owns AccuWeather has been lobbying since Trump’s first term to close NOAA and give his company a monopoly on it. Selling forecasts, data and access back to everyone while using resources paid for by taxpayers.
AccuWeather has been trying since 2005:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Weather_Service_Duties_Act_of_2005
Make America Grift Again
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: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3H6z037pboGWTxs3xGP7HRGrQ5dOQdGc ), 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.