The push against the WaPo for running George Will's global warming denial column continues. Here are two good posts from that finest of science writers, Carl Zimmer: "George Will: Liberated From the Burden of Fact-Checking" and "The Sea Ice Affair, Continued."
I liked the way Zimmer finished up the latter one:
It’s easy to think of fact-checking as a luxury of old-time journalism, akin to three-martini lunches and business class flights. But if fact-checking is done right, it can make newspapers and magazines reliable and trusted–a distinction that may help them survive in these competitive times.
I've believed this for years -- the biggest selling point the newspapers will have going for them in this era of media transitions is the quality of their content, same as every other site online. I wish they'd stop thinking exclusively in terms of cost-cutting.
By the way, the title for this post is from the weasel-word-rich response from the WaPo's ombudsman, as noted by Zimmer, extracted and reported by Think Progress's Brad Johnson. Let it become the next Internet meme.
(h/t: Nate)
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My previous posts on this topic, if you missed them: here, here, here, and here.
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