The Ongoing “Foxification” of the Wall Street Journal

Last week, the Wall Street Journal published from a group of anthropogenic climate change deniers — a small group of engineers, retired weathermen, and scientists, none one of whom worked in the the field of climate science.

A much larger group of scientists, most of whom actually work in the field climate change, submitted a signed letter in response. The cowardly editorial board of the WSJ rejected the rebuttal letter. In response, the pre-eminent science journal Science, known for scientific rigor, decided to published it: “Climate change and the Integrity of Science” (January 27th, 2012). (The WSJ did publish yesterday (Feb 1), a letters to the editors from Kevin Trenberth, a scientist).

Sigh.

Ever since what once was the best paper in the US was purchased by Rupert Murdoch, its value as a source of business news been continuously degraded. I spend more time on the Journal’s many excellent blogs than I do the print paper. And their iPad app sets the bar for media integration into a tablet. I may still read the print Journal, but I am down to 2 sections, Money & Investing and Personal Journal (called Friday/Weekend on those days).

This is a tragedy. Great journalism is becoming increasingly rare, and a vibrant independent press is a necessary part of any Democracy. Not only was the Journal a once great institution, but I have many friends and colleagues who work there — along with an increasingly large roster of those who used to.

Murdoch’s Foxification of the WSJ has reduced its reliability to me as an investor. Its objectivity is is no longer unquestioned. The obvious disregard for facts, for science, and the rabid disregard for Truth in the service of Murdoch’s ideology is slowly poisoning the rest of the paper — it now reaches beyond the OIpEd pages. At a certain unknown point in the future, I fear the entire publication may simply become too untrustworthy for investors to rely upon. At that point, I suspect Bloomberg will buy the FT, put out a US edition, and media watchers will begin the countdown to the final days of the WSJ.

That is a terrible shame. No one should take any delight in the destruction of what was once a great Wall Street institution.

The full list of signatories to the rejected rebuttal are after the jump. And for a slice into the world of cognitive dissonance, check out the comment stream following the published letter to the editor — its hilarious, in a sloping forehead kinda way.

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Previously:
Murdoch’s WSJ Changes Creates Opening for NYT, FT ( April 24th, 2008)

Read It Here First: “De-Financializing” the WSJ (April 28th, 2008)

WSJ Jumps the Shark (January 22nd, 2010)

Read It Here First: WSJ Becomes Fox-ified (July 16th, 2011)

Sources:
Remarkable Editorial Bias on Climate Science at the Wall Street Journal
Peter Gleick,
CEO Pacific Institute, MacArthur Fellow, National Academy of Sciences
http://www.forbes.com/sites/petergleick/2012/01/27/remarkable-editorial-bias-on-climate-science-at-the-wall-street-journal/

Two incontrovertible things: Anthropogenic Global Warming is Real, and the Wall Street Journal is Political Rag
Greg Laden
Science Blogs, January 27, 2012
http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/01/two_incontrovertible_things_an.php

P. H. GLEICK
R. M. ADAMS
R. M. AMASINO
E. ANDERS
D. J. ANDERSON
W. W. ANDERSON
L. E. ANSELIN
M. K. ARROYO
B. ASFAW
F. J. AYALA
A. BAX
A. J. BEBBINGTON
G. BELL
M. V. L. BENNETT
J. L. BENNETZEN
M. R. BERENBAUM
O. B. BERLIN
P. J. BJORKMAN
E. BLACKBURN
J. E. BLAMONT
M. R. BOTCHAN
J. S. BOYER
E. A. BOYLE
D. BRANTON
S. P. BRIGGS
W. R. BRIGGS
W. J. BRILL
R. J. BRITTEN
W. S. BROECKER
J. H. BROWN
P. O. BROWN
A. T. BRUNGER
J. CAIRNS JR.
D. E. CANFIELD
S. R. CARPENTER
J. C. CARRINGTON
A. R. CASHMORE
J. C. CASTILLA
A. CAZENAVE
F. S. CHAPIN III
A. J. CIECHANOVER
D. E. CLAPHAM
W. C. CLARK
R. N. CLAYTON
M. D. COE
E. M. CONWELL
E. B. COWLING
R. M COWLING
C. S. COX
R. B. CROTEAU
D. M. CROTHERS
P. J. CRUTZEN
G. C. DAILY
G. B. DALRYMPLE
J. L. DANGL
S. A. DARST
D. R. DAVIES
M. B. DAVIS
P. V. DE CAMILLI
C. DEAN
R. S. DEFRIES
J. DEISENHOFER
D. P. DELMER
E. F. DELONG
D. J. DEROSIER
T. O.
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R. DIRZO
J. E. DIXON
M. J. DONOGHUE
R. F. DOOLITTLE
T. DUNNE
P. R. EHRLICH
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T. EISNER
K. A. EMANUEL
S. W.
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W. G. ERNST
P. G. FALKOWSKI
G. FEHER
J. A. FEREJOHN
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E. H. FISCHER
R. FISCHER
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J. FRANK
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C. FRIEDEN
D. J. FUTUYMA
W. R. GARDNER
C. J. R. GARRETT
W. GILBERT
R. B. GOLDBERG
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C. S. GOODMAN
M. GOODMAN
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S. HAKE
G. HAMMEL
S. HANSON
S. C. HARRISON
S. R. HART
D. L. HARTL
R. HASELKORN
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J. P. KLINMAN
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L. LORAND
C. O. LOVEJOY
M. LYNCH
A. L. MABOGUNJE
T. F. MALONE
S. MANABE
J. MARCUS
D. S. MASSEY
J. C. MCWILLIAMS
E. MEDINA
H. J. MELOSH

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C. D. MICHENER
E. L. MILES
H. A. MOONEY
P. B. MOORE
F. M. M. MOREL
E. S. MOSLEY-THOMPSON
B. MOSS
W. H. MUNK
N. MYERS
G. B. NAIR
J. NATHANS
E. W. NESTER
R. A. NICOLL
R. P. NOVICK
J. F. O’CONNELL
P. E. OLSEN
N. D. OPDYKE
G. F. OSTER
E. OSTROM
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R. T. PAINE
R. D. PALMITER
J. PEDLOSKY
G. A. PETSKO
G. H. PETTENGILL
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T. D. POLLARD
P. B. PRICE JR.
P. A. REICHARD
B. F. RESKIN
R. E. RICKLEFS
R. L. RIVEST
J. D. ROBERTS
A. K. ROMNEY
M. G. ROSSMANN
D. W. RUSSELL
W. J. RUTTER
J. A. SABLOFF
R. Z. SAGDEEV
M. D. SAHLINS
A. SALMOND
J. R. SANES
R. SCHEKMAN
J. SCHELLNHUBER
D. W. SCHINDLER
J. SCHMITT
S. H. SCHNEIDER
V. L. SCHRAMM
R. R. SEDEROFF
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F. SHERMAN
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N. H. SLEEP
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P. J. WATSON
D. WEIGEL
S. R. WESSLER
M. J. WEST-EBERHARD
T. D. WHITE
W. J. WILSON
R. V. WOLFENDEN
J. A. WOOD
G. M. WOODWELL
H. E. WRIGHT JR.
C. WU
C. WUNSCH
M. L. ZOBACK