New York Times Defends Hiring of Climate Science Denier Bret Stephens, Claiming 'Intellectual Honesty’

The New York Times has been defending the paper’s hiring of a climate science denier, fighting off its critics with what it claims is a standard fashioned from hardened “intellectual honesty.”

The New York Times defends its intellectual
honesty by serving up "word soup".

The controversial hire in question is that of Bret Stephens, formerly of the Wall Street Journal, who has joined the NYT as a columnist and deputy editorial page editor.

While at the WSJ, Stephens consistently undermined and disparaged climate change, one time describing it as an “imaginary enemy” and another comparing it to religion with a “doomsaying prophecy and faith in things unseen.”

Stephens' new boss, editorial page editor James Bennett, told the paper’s public editor Liz Spayd: “The crux of the question is whether his work belongs inside our boundaries for intelligent debate, and I have no doubt that it does. I have no doubt he crosses our bar for intellectual honesty and fairness.”

Suffice to say, there are plenty who disagree. One climate scientist has already canceled his subscription in protest, with others watching closely. 

  

No doubt that Stephens can write — he won a Pulitzer in 2012 for lots of opinions on stuff other than climate.

But like other conservative columnists admired for their poetic prose and strident opinions while attacking climate change, the methods used by Stephens might be compared to those of a fake chef producing a lumpy and unsatisfying word soup.

Read the Desmog Blog story - “New York Times Defends Hiring of Climate Science Denier Bret Stephens, Claiming 'Intellectual Honesty’.”