This is Fine (Part 2 of 3)
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“Liberal” Media Denialism — Featuring the Washington Post
Two decades later, in the NYT’s rival paper, WaPo, we see the fruits of the seeds of climate Denial planted back in the late 1980s by the “Paper of Record”. The Washington Post in February, 2009: “Dark Green Doomsayers” by George F. Will (in the much vaunted and apparently fact-free Opinion Section) contains memorable quotes such as, “…according to the U.N. World Meteorological Organization, there has been no recorded global warming for more than a decade…”[1] The regular allowance of Denialists to gain prominence of their views in publications such as the New York Times and the Washington Post demonstrates the complicity of the publications themselves. The very purpose of an opinion page is to influence opinion, not merely allow for free expression. The NYT and WaPo were not posting editorials invoking science from flat-earthers and gravity denialists. But Hurricane Katrina (2005) had begun to sow doubt in the minds of many Americans about the Denialist message. Al Gore’s 2006 film, An Inconvenient Truth increased American suspicions that the climate was actually heating up. In 2007, candidate Obama campaigned by advocating a cap on CO2 emissions. In 2008 the same candidate vowed he did not take money from oil companies and railed against the $1.2 billion tax breaks received by Exxon. The fossil fuel industry appeared to be put on the defensive.
As a counterbalance to these gains in environmental awareness, the NYT and WaPo lent a hand to neo-liberal capitalists and Denialists invested in the fossil fuel industry by allowing “reputable” writers to propagandize their Denialist opinions through the editorial pages. This enhanced the credibility of the fossil fuel industries’ misinformation campaigns and lent legitimacy to their Wall Street investors. The Washington Post and the New York Times share common practices, investors, donors, political sources, subscribers, journalism grants, awards, board members, and are part of a general consensus-forming clique. Their rivalry links them in a mutual admiration society which determines what is “Fit to Print” and what is not. It’s not just ad revenues that keeps them muted on the issue of Rapid Anthropogenic Global Heating, it’s the jockeying for positions of readership, political and economic patronage, and social status as well.
[1] George F. Will. “Dark Green Doomsayers” in The Washington Post, Feb. 15, 2009. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/13/AR2009021302514_pf.html (accessed, November 18, 2019)
