On hostile audiences

Congrats to John Baglow (aka Dr. Dawg) on his new place on the National Post's Full Comment page. But it figures to be a somewhat worrisome sign when a new recruit is announced with the following introduction:

Before everyone starts sending me nasty emails, think about this: There's nothing wrong with listening to other opinions; it's when you start agreeing with them that you need to worry.

Which raises the question: does it strike nobody else as odd that a media outlet would even consider highlighting opinions which (in its own view) weren't at least capable of being agreed with?

Mind you, the best possible result would be if more people come to agree with John's posts than anybody at the National Post would think possible. And I'll certainly be rooting for that outcome. But it seems rather counterproductive for everybody concerned for the editors to instruct their readers otherwise, rather than letting the public decide for itself based on the high quality of John's posts.