Relativism, The NY Times, and Intelligent Design
It's official. I'm so over the New York Times . As of today, I'm in search of a good American newspaper.
Perhaps it's because I'm older and more critical, but journalistic standards seem to have really dropped. Relativistic journalism is now the norm: the Democrats say this but the Republicans say that, or Environmentalists say this but Big Business says that. Surely there are some facts which can help us determine which side is closer to the truth.
Relativistic education is next: evolution says this but intelligent design says that. What about the ability of theories to lead to new knowledge and new technologies? Vaccines to fight evolving viruses, for example. We do all agree that viruses can mutate and thereby evolve, don't we? If we're forever lost in the middle ground of thinking that we just can't know and just have to marvel at the mystery of it all, we won't get anywhere.
Anyway, the final straw for me was the coverage (or lack thereof) of the Judy Miller story at the Times. As has been written by Arianna Huffington and many others, the Times coverage of this story has been disingenuous at best. No mention of the fact that this reporter might be seen as covering for the government. Instead, she is constantly portrayed in the Times as an honest yet humble reporter standing up for the rights of her sources against the government. But what if it's the government investigating the government? The Times is silent on that. And I've had enough.
Perhaps it's because I'm older and more critical, but journalistic standards seem to have really dropped. Relativistic journalism is now the norm: the Democrats say this but the Republicans say that, or Environmentalists say this but Big Business says that. Surely there are some facts which can help us determine which side is closer to the truth.
Relativistic education is next: evolution says this but intelligent design says that. What about the ability of theories to lead to new knowledge and new technologies? Vaccines to fight evolving viruses, for example. We do all agree that viruses can mutate and thereby evolve, don't we? If we're forever lost in the middle ground of thinking that we just can't know and just have to marvel at the mystery of it all, we won't get anywhere.
Anyway, the final straw for me was the coverage (or lack thereof) of the Judy Miller story at the Times. As has been written by Arianna Huffington and many others, the Times coverage of this story has been disingenuous at best. No mention of the fact that this reporter might be seen as covering for the government. Instead, she is constantly portrayed in the Times as an honest yet humble reporter standing up for the rights of her sources against the government. But what if it's the government investigating the government? The Times is silent on that. And I've had enough.
posted by The Pegster at 10:00 AM
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