Prick a Warmists and a fascist bleeds
The distorting reality of ‘false balance’ in the media
False equivalence in the media — giving equal weight to unsupported or even discredited claims for the sake of appearing impartial — is not unusual. But a major media organization taking meaningful steps to do something about it is.
Earlier this month, the BBC’s governing body issued a report assessing the BBC’s impartiality in covering scientific topics. When it comes to an issue like climate change, the report concluded, not all viewpoints share the same amount of scientific substance. Giving equal time and weight to a wide range of arguments without regard to their credibility risks creating a “false balance†in the public debate.
This is a lesson for all media on both sides of the Atlantic — and not just when it comes to science coverage. There are many sides to almost every story, but that doesn’t mean they are automatically equal.
The lesson is that dictators through the ages would be proud of this conduct. Of course, she yammers on about consensus, and ends with
Ultimately, forcing balance where there is none is not journalistically ethical. It’s not part of the proud and essential tradition of truth telling and evaluation, either. At best, it’s lazy. At worst, it’s an abdication of the media’s responsibility.
Rather than uncritically repeating talking points, isn’t it time for the media to take the BBC’s bold advice and exercise editorial judgment? Because if the scale tips in favor of the truth, that’s not imbalanced reporting. That’s journalism.
In other words, shut down the debate. Self censorship. It’s not enough that Skeptics are rarely allowed their say within the media to start with. Is there a counter opinion piece to Heuvel’s? No. She, like most Warmists, wants to institute their fascistic viewpoints, and stop the spread of anything that doesn’t fit in with their political cult.
From the comments
Is there anything more Orwellian than this. “False balance”, how about giving all the information and letting the reader make up his mind.
Say, when is Katrina going to give up her own Big Carbon Footprint lifestyle?
