On Factual Literacy and Media Responsibility In The Age Of Fox News and Rush Limbaugh

authordefault
on

This New York Timesย online editorial last week by Tim Egan, โ€œBuilding a Nation of Know-Nothings,โ€ says a lot about the need for literacy, respect for facts and rational thought all being important building blocks for democracy. ย 

Egan notes the โ€œastonishing level of willful ignoranceโ€ evident among the public, thanks to the lies and distortions put forwardย โ€œlargely by designโ€ย by Rush Limbaugh and Fox News, โ€œaided by a press afraid to call out the primary architects of theย lies.โ€

Egan correctly points out that this pattern is all too often seen on the subject of globalย warming:

โ€œClimate-change denial is a special category all its own. Once on the fringe, dismissal of scientific consensus is now an article of faith among leading Republicans, again taking their cue from Limbaugh and Fox.โ€ย 

Read โ€œBuilding a Nation of Know-Nothingsโ€ on The New York Times website.ย 

ย 

Related Posts

on

Briefing notes obtained by DeSmog reveal the Carney government had major knowledge gaps about CCS even as it made the technology central to its climate plan.

Briefing notes obtained by DeSmog reveal the Carney government had major knowledge gaps about CCS even as it made the technology central to its climate plan.
Analysis
on

Leaders of the Alberta separatist movement are insisting they do not want to become the U.S.โ€™s 51st state, but their actions (and own words) say otherwise.

Leaders of the Alberta separatist movement are insisting they do not want to become the U.S.โ€™s 51st state, but their actions (and own words) say otherwise.
on

Opponents of climate action are taking advantage of the AI boom to attack the governmentโ€™s clean energy goals.

Opponents of climate action are taking advantage of the AI boom to attack the governmentโ€™s clean energy goals.
on

A new report has found that โ€œthe promises of planet-saving tech remain hollowโ€.

A new report has found that โ€œthe promises of planet-saving tech remain hollowโ€.