D would not weaken the argument. It tells us that newspapers would be willing to publish before peer review, which actually supports the idea that allowing publication before peer review will speed up the time it takes to publicize new findings. If newspapers are willing to publish before peer review, that supports the author's claim that allowing publication of findings before peer review will help people make decisions faster.
A, however, does weaken the argument, by suggesting that early publication might actually be a bad thing, leading to false conclusions.
