Thursday, October 9, 2008

False balance is giving in to the wrong side

This story gets at a complaint I've had for years against the press.

My problem has been the attempt to present a "balanced" view or an even-handed story when the facts are not so balanced and even-handed.

Attempting to provide balance when the facts scream otherwise is nothing but press bias in its own right.

For example: To be balanced when you report on the world being round, you should probably give equal time and the appearance of equal weight to those who say the Earth is flat.

Now, most of us would think the flat earthers don't deserve the same billing as the rest of us and we'd be right. But, by giving equal weight to the flat earth advocate, we'd be giving them MORE weight than they deserve.

Can you see my point?

When someone demands balance from the press they are in essence admitting they are in a weak position and are demanding that the world give them an advantage not warranted by their position.

False balance is just as wrong as being an ideologue.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Good point, well brought across. :)