NYT editorial blasts bush for ideology on GW

It's easy for the New York Times to say this now that the political winds have changed:

Mr. Obama also pledged on Monday to base his administration’s policy decisions on sound science, undistorted by politics or ideology. He ordered his science office to develop a plan for all government agencies to achieve that goal.

Such a pledge should be unnecessary. Unfortunately, for eight years, former President George W. Bush did just the opposite. He chose scientific advisory committees based on ideology rather than expertise. His political appointees aggressively ignored, distorted or suppressed scientific findings to promote a political agenda or curry favor with big business.

This cynical approach seriously hampered government efforts to address global warming and encourage sound family planning practices, among other issues.

Nevertheless, it is good to hear. But the lesson I have learned about the media from all of this is that it only publishes what it has the courage to publish, not what it perceives to be true. And what it has the courage to publish depends on who has the money and the power.

I have mixed feelings about the splintering of the media and the death of the newspaper. On the one hand we have this issue of cowardice that has been confronted by alternative media and blogs. On the other hand, we are losing journalistic standards and large pipelines of information that give people a common culture and news reference. As the media splinters, so does its audience. This allows for groups to self-identify but it also prevents them from finding common ground. Global warming is a perfect example of a problem that requires us to pull together, not apart.