“The people responsible for global warming change say temperatures will rise 10 degrees or more in the next 25 to 50 years.”

This piece of fiction, unsourced and untrue, is being presented to the defenceless readers of the St. Augustine (FL) Record as if it is actually worthy of attention.

True, the whacky misinformation is in a letter to the editor. But one assumes that editors are not entirely stupid and that part of their function is to select and present information that is accurate.

The Record clearly has another policy. Featuring a letter that includes such obvious tripe, or that asks, “Has anyone measured the earth’s distance from the sun?” without making any attempt to answer the question (Yes) is more than an abdication of what used to be called journalistic responsibility. It is an affront – an act of irresponsibility that contributes not to a free and open debate, but to a confused and misinformed citizenry, unable to make intelligent choices because they are being so badly served by the information sources that claim their trust.