Making themselves irrelevant

Newspapers have had a hard time adjusting to the Internet age. Decisions like this just exacerbate their downward death spiral. Good riddance, says I...

The NYT’s environmental blog, Dot Earth, covered the disclosure of e-mails and other files from the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit, noted that the files are available on various other website, but did not reproduce any files on its site. As Andrew Revkin explained in the post:

The documents appear to have been acquired illegally and contain all manner of private information and statements that were never intended for the public eye, so they won’t be posted here.

As Eugene Volokh goes on to point out, this is pretty rich coming from the outfit that had no qualms publishing the Pentagon Papers. Or divulging any number of classified security programs implemented after 9/11. Don't get me wrong -- I believe some of that information needed to be discussed in the public domain. Which is why I find the subjectively selective nature of this latest editorial decision all the more offensive. The Global Warming movement seeks to impose substantial changes on society. It's more than a little in the public interest to examine whether that crowd knowingly played fast and loose with the evidence in order to further a political agenda. Isn't that the purpose for which we protect a 'free press?'

For all the aggressive partisanship found online, there is far more even-handed treatment of information one finds detrimental to a given position than is found in the many traditional print publications. That lack of credibility, excusing themselves from controversies they'd rather not see discussed, will be the death of them yet. They still don't get the fact they don't own all the gates anymore.