Abstract
Graphical Journalistic impartiality is a laudable aim, but overly rigid application of unbiased reporting may do more harm than good. The issue of false balance in science reporting has severe consequences for health and the environment.
Highlights
On matters of science, a well-meaning desire to present all views can be an Trojan horse for damaging falsehoods
I n an era of increasingly polarised discourse, journalistic impartiality is a virtue that media outlets should strive to achieve in order to provide readers and viewers with unbiased, neutral information
While scientists are virtually in agreement on the reality and causes of climate change, up until recently approximately almost all articles in prestige American media gave equal coverage to climate change denialists as they did to scientific consensus [1]
Summary
This is an example of false balance, which occurs when one tries to treat two opposing positions as valid when they are not. False balance creates a perception in the public mind that an issue is scientifically contentious, when it is not This means that even urgent issues such as climate change can be dismissed as a mere difference of scientific opinion. This confounds public perception of science, but creates an aura of doubt, which can be abused to create a toxic inertia, beguiling us to sleep-walk into disaster or placidly accept situations we should vocally protest. If one position is buttressed by an overwhelming weight of evidence while another is bereft of empirical support, it is profoundly wrongheaded to treat them as equal This is precisely what occurs all too often in the coverage of scientific issues
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