In a move that hopefully will spread to other media outlets, the Los Angeles Times has announced that it will no longer publish letters to the editor authored by climate change deniers. The policy needs to also extend to anti-gay bigots who knowingly spout lies and untruths to support their religious based bigotry. Yes, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but that does not mean that media outlets have to provide a platform for such lies and bigotry, especially when modern knowledge and science makes it clear that the claims of such people is not only false, but often deliberately false. Here are highlights from the Times' editorial announcing the new policy:
A piece this weekend debunking the claim that Congress and the president are exempted from Obamacare has drawn a harsh reaction from some readers and conservative bloggers. But their umbrage wasn't with the piece's explanation of why letters making this claim do not get published.
Rather, they were upset by the statement that letters "[saying] there's no sign humans have caused climate change" do not get printed. Noel Sheppard at NewsBusters blogged about it over the weekend:
"It's one thing for a news outlet to advance the as yet unproven theory of anthropogenic global warming; it's quite another to admit that you won't publish views that oppose it.
"As amazing as it may seem, that's exactly what the Los Angeles Times did Saturday in an article by editorial writer Jon Healey....
"So letters to the editor 'that say there's no sign humans have caused climate change ... do not get printed.'
As for letters on climate change, we do get plenty from those who deny global warming. And to say they "deny" it might be an understatement: Many say climate change is a hoax, a scheme by liberals to curtail personal freedom.
[W]hen deciding which letters should run among hundreds on such weighty matters as climate change, I must rely on the experts -- in other words, those scientists with advanced degrees who undertake tedious research and rigorous peer review.
And those scientists have provided ample evidence that human activity is indeed linked to climate change. Just last month, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change -- a body made up of the world's top climate scientists -- said it was 95% certain that we fossil-fuel-burning humans are driving global warming. The debate right now isn't whether this evidence exists (clearly, it does) but what this evidence means for us.
Simply put, I do my best to keep errors of fact off the letters page; when one does run, a correction is published. Saying "there's no sign humans have caused climate change" is not stating an opinion, it's asserting a factual inaccuracy.
Memo to MSNBC and CNN: Pleas stop giving Tony Perkins and other hate group mouth pieces a forum. They are not stating opinions. They are stating outright lies and factual inaccuracies (and they know that they are) and you need to stop giving them any semblance of legitimacy by allowing them on the air. If they want to dissemiate their groups' lies and hate base prejudice, let them pay for airtime. Or appear only on Fox News, a/k/a "Faux News" on this blog. Providing them a form only diminishes your own legitimacy and claims to legitimate journalism! Yes, they provide sensationalism. But so do mindless reality shows.
1 comment:
I'm curious if the Los Angeles Times will publish letters from skeptics who don't deny some AGW but doubt catastrophic predictions. According to many non-skeptics, there are only two viewpoints on AGW: either 1. AGW doesn't exist, or 2. catastrophic predictions require immediate action. I contend there are a range of possible viewpoints somewhere between these two extremes.
Post a Comment