Props to Politico, who published the full text of a long letter that Grist's Russ Walker and David Roberts wrote in rebuttal to a misleading Politico article entitled "Scientists urge caution on global warming." And even bigger props for going a step beyond the letter and actually apologizing for the piece. Politico's Jeanne Cummings writes:
Giving voice to the losing side of a national debate is often fraught with peril. It requires navigating a terrain littered with grudges, slights, insults and hard feelings.To do that without becoming ensnared requires extraordinary care. In Politico's case, we slipped...The headline overstated what was in the story. That's a chronic problem in the industry that might have been mitigated if the article had plainly stated its narrow intent, which it didn't. It also should have included the challenges to the cited scientific data.[...]Undoubtedly, this won't be the last time Politico finds itself on this road. We hope the next time to be more sure footed.
Good for them. This sort of transparency makes me trust them more, not less.
