The Problem(s) with the Washington Post Op-Ed Page

By Eric Alterman | February 25, 2010 for the Center for American Progress

When I began thinking about doing a column about recent developments on The Washington Post editorial page, I was torn between focusing on its increasing conservatism and its overall badness. The problem, however, is that the two appear inextricably linked. Is the problem with George Will’s constant global warming denialism ideological or intellectual? Is David Broder’s misinformed love letter to Sarah Palin indicative of a desire to ingratiate himself to Republican Tea Partiers or continued evidence of the deterioration of his ability to apply common sense to political analysis? Was the Post’s decision to add former Bush administration official and vocal pro-torture advocate Marc Thiessen to its bevy of pro-torture advocates and former Republican officials more important for its right-wing tilt or its implied contempt for traditional journalistic values? Hard to say, really.

Of course, the categories “conservative” and “bad” are hardly mutually exclusive when it comes to columnists, making the choice a false one. In fact, based on the representation of conservative views at the Post, they often appear to be purposely complementary. One can be a deeply conservative individual politically and still find oneself offended by the constant stream of intellectual insult.

Take, for instance, Mr. Will. Some people genuinely believe that global warming is actually a worldwide conspiracy on the part of scientists to, well, it’s never been entirely clear to me why, though I’ve looked into it. Clearly, however, the members of The Washington Post editorial page are not among them. They write: “The earth is warming. A chief cause is the increase in greenhouse gases accumulating in the atmosphere. Humans are at least in part responsible, because the oil, gas and coal that we burn releases these gases. If current trends persist, it’s likely that in coming decades the globe’s climate will change with potentially devastating effects for billions of people.” Pretty simple and straightforward, huh? It also happens to be based on the actual news reporting of The Washington Post and is pretty uncontroversial among people who take facts seriously.

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