Are newspapers willing to mislead the public, for a price?

Should newspapers sell advertising space to those who propagate misleading or demonstrably false information about scientific issues? Is the paper’s desire to earn “a little extra cash for depleted print coffers,” as the New York Times’ public editor put it, a good enough justification for doing so?

These are questions raised by the recent decisions by the Times and the Washington Post to publish in their print editions full-page, paid advertisements filled …

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