The New York Times Needs More Science Writers, Not a Science Phony

The New York Times Needs More Science Writers, Not a Science Phony

 
The big brouhaha over bringing a climate science denier on board the venerable New York Times shows a lack of appreciation of science. Science does really lead to the truth. Especially at this time in America, and just following a large national and international turnout for the marches for science, the importance of science has to be appreciated. The apparent decision of the NY Times to broaden its appeal by offering an alternative fact or pseudo science op-Ed writer is confusing and wrong. It shows sacrificing journalism integrity for plain business profit.

 
Yes, we know CNN and Bill Maher show both sides of political issues. And the political puppets constantly interrupt and shout and never stop, and pretend this is debating issues. It is turning news into a form of entertainment. Politics is indeed debatable, and there is no right or wrong, but there are even facts in politics. People do not buy reputable newspapers to distort scientific facts, and to pretend that science is a matter of opinion or a topic for debate, unless there are really unresolved points.

 
In the op-Ed case in point, by Bret Stephens, any science reporter, or scientist, or science editor, or statistician, could have told the NY Times that the arguments and comparisons in the article are without merit and simply devised to disrespect climate science. For the NY Times to publish an op-Ed about science without any science review as if it was a political opinion article is a failure of journalism, at a time when real journalism is under attack by an entire administration.

 
It is not just climate science that is under attack as a science, but the whole funding of climate satellites and equipment, and the scientists themselves, inside and outside government are being defunded. At the same time all clean power sources, all attempts to make automobiles cleaner, all regulations of poisonous gases and CO2 pollution from coal fired plants are being cancelled. The choice of the NY Times to coddle climate deniers could not have come at a more sensitive time.

 
The great and well known climate scientists James Hansen and Michael Moore had no choice but to cancel their subscriptions, at a minimum. But much more is called for by all those who pay for the top newspaper. The NY Times must level with their readers, or conduct their own internal expose, as to why they made this diversion in course, and why they were pressured to do so, and answer if will they continue it.

 
I trust that with further reflection, and input from scientists, that the directors running the NY Times will make the right decision.

About Dennis SILVERMAN

I am a retired Professor of Physics and Astronomy at U C Irvine. For two decades I have been active in learning about energy and the environment, and in reporting on those topics for a decade. For the last four years I have added science policy. Lately, I have been reporting on the Covid-19 pandemic of our times.
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