fringe opinions get a free ride
the columbia journalism review features blinded by science, written by chris mooney.

A climate scientist faced with a reporter locked into the "get both sides" mindset risks getting his or her views stuffed into one of two boxed storylines: "we're worried" or "it will all be okay." And sometimes, these two "boxes" are misrepresentative; a mainstream, well-established consensus may be "balanced" against the opposing views of a few extremists, and to the uninformed, each position seems equally credible.

as if it was needed, this is more evidence that our poorly informed culture continues to ignore critical thinking skills. the funny part about all of this recurring foolishness in the faux delivery of "fair and balanced" consumables for the public discourse is that careful readers with critical thinking skills can correctly parse the doublespeak that passes for mass marketed amercan journalism without batting an eye. the old grey lady can win pulitzers for pushing lies and bury the retraction months later, but careful readers with correctly functioning mental sieves do not miss these nuggets. sadly, critical thinkers are obviously in the voting minority or else we would not be so busy inflicting pax bush-americana on the rest of the planet.
posted by Will Ross at 19:07