Balance

Abstract

Balance is one of the most contested concepts in the wider academic and public debates about the role of the media in society, but the concept is particularly relevant to public service broadcasters, with the UK's → BBC being an international exemplar, for whom balance often is a specific mandate (→ Television News; Public Broadcasting Systems). While the print media claim objectivity in their routines of news gathering, reporting and editing, they are not legally required to be balanced (→ Objectivity in Reporting). The newspaper may express its institutional voice, its political worldview, in its comment and analysis pages, and it may offer space to alternative viewpoints in the interests of genuine pluralism or to broaden its readership. (→ Plurality; Partisan Press; Party–Press Parallelism). The public service broadcaster, however, has a legal obligation in many societies to be balanced and be seen to be balanced, and it is internally and externally regulated to that end. The requirement to represent or give public access to a range of opinions in public debate without favor applies especially to → news and current affairs and must be demonstrable either within a program or across the range of such program within a certain time frame (→ Media Performance).