false balance
Misleading equivalence coverage
False balance is the journalistic practice of presenting opposing viewpoints as equally credible when evidence heavily favors one side.
A news report giving equal time to climate scientists and climate deniers creates false balance by implying legitimate scientific debate where little exists.
The term is usually critical: The article's false balance made fringe theories seem mainstream.
- biasUnfair inclination or prejudice
- media biasSkewed news presentation
- misleadingCausing false beliefs
- distortionTwisting from original state
- both sidesTwo opposing parties together
both-sides · equivalence · journalism · equal time · media · objectivity · spin · propaganda · deception · skewed · fairness · neutrality · framing · agenda · misinformation · slant · news coverage · coverage
- logical fallaciesfallacy, straw man, ad hominem, red herring, slippery slope
- manipulation tacticsgaslighting, guilt trip, guilt-tripping, guilt tripping, emotional blackmail
- media biasmedia bias, bias, editorial bias, slant, partisan
- media ethicsjournalism ethics, media ethics, media bias, journalistic ethics, journalistic integrity
- propagandapropaganda, brainwashing, disinformation, misinformation, indoctrination
- denialismclimate denial, Holocaust denial, vaccine denial, denialism, anti-science
false balanceintellectual honesty
Commitment to truth over ego
responsible journalism · factual accuracy · scientific accuracy · fair representation · truth-telling
false, falsely, falseness, falsify, falsification, falsity, falsified, falsifier, balance