BOOM: L.A. Times Boots Climate Change Deniers

Somehow, in the fog of shutdown-itis, we missed this one. But it’s a doozy, and it gives us reason to celebrate.

On October 8, the Los Angeles Times, one of the most important journalistic vehicles in the country — and one of the rare newspapers enjoying a healthy increase in circulation of late — decided to ban all reader feedback that denies the fact of climate change.

In a short explanatory piece, editor Paul Thornton detailed the paper’s reasoning thusly:

…when 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.

What’s particularly laudable here is that the Times recognizes (as if it needed to) that facts aren’t debatable; they’re facts, and the paper’s job is to constrain thoughtful discourse to factual dimensions, not fantasy.

In other words, there are not two sides to every story. Not even close.

While the Times will in all likelihood continue to report on the impact of global warming denialists on global policy — because that impact is a sad fact — it has dispensed with a steady stream of cretinous nonsense that does nothing to advance the issue. And, for that, we say bravo.

Lastly: is it censorship, as a denier might claim? Is it a violation of a fundamental right?

Of course not. The Times carries no obligation to publish any reader feedback at all, and reserves the right to impose standards of integrity on every aspect of its product.

Needless to say, there are plenty of outlets for the manifestly ignorant to say their piece, and find warm company.

By: rhb

Rob is a NYC-based Internet entrepreneur. He's also a businessman and job creator (wait: doesn't demand create jobs?) who understands the sense, and the eventual predominance, of the progressive agenda.