In the Times yesterday, John Tierney attacked the Harvard School of Public Health for giving an award to Michael Bloomberg due to Bloomberg’s fight against the use of trans-fats in New York City restaurant food.

How much good Mr. Bloomberg has done for New Yorkers’ health is debatable. But there’s no question he’s been good for the Harvard School of Public Health by promoting the trans-fat notions of its researchers, notably Walter Willett, the epidemiologist who has been the leading critic of trans fat.

Tierney goes on to say that maybe trans fats aren’t so bad for you after all, and he quotes at length—it’s actually a block quote—Elizabeth Whelan, the head of a group called the American Council on Science and Public Health.

How many deaths from heart disease will be prevented by the restaurant ban on trans fat? Our best guess is zero.
What Tierney doesn’t bother to mention, though, is that both Whelan and her group are generally considered less than credible sources.

For one thing, it receives some of its funding from the fast food industry, which heavily fought the trans fat ban.

Some of the commenters point this out, and Tierney responds to them quite disdainfully—until Eric Schlosser, the author of Fast Food Nation, also chimes in, and Tierney doesn’t bother to respond to him.

Here is a rule about journalism: If you make a mistake, it’s better to admit it than to stonewall, whether you work for the New York Times or Podunk Weekly. And definitely don’t compound it by mocking the people who point out your mistake. (Tierney actually asks readers to discuss whether he should delete a comment which criticizes him.)

Tierney should admit his mistake. And even better, the Times should hire Eric Schlosser as a columnist.
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P.S. A footnote: I’ve just read through all the comments, which are pretty lengthy. They absolutely destroy Tierney’s argument—to the point where his column now seems not just wrong, but irresponsible.

That New York Times has some pretty sharp readers.