USA TODAY Column: … “The key point the [BBC} workshops tried to impart is that impartiality in science coverage does not simply lie in reflecting a wide range of views, which may result in a ‘false balance,’ ” the report said. “More crucially it depends on the varying degree of prominence such views should be given. In this respect, editorial decisions should be guided by where the scientific consensus might be found on any given topic, if it can in fact be determined.”
That, of course doesn’t mean freezing out dissenting voices. But it also doesn’t mean you should give equal space or airtime to established truth on the one hand and reality-challenged people who don’t like it on the other…
Among the worst offenders are cable and the Sunday morning network public affairs shows, where the default position is to get two people on opposite sides of an issue and let them duke it out. The result is often fireworks at the expenses of enlightenment… (more)
EDITOR: As does the article, we have often quoted the late senator from New York, Daniel Moynihan, that “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.”
When contributors submit opinions as facts we either don’t publish the letter or excise the offending portion.
I wonder when LNP will provide the facts (rather than LNP’s opinion) about PSP’s involvement (profits) with the Convention center (at taxpayers’ expense)??