Media coverage of climate change and COVID-19 are examples of a media practice called “bothsidesism” in the United States. It is characterized by journalists striving to present both sides of an issue equally, even in cases where the most credible sources are on one side. This is what media researchers at Northwestern University ( HERE ) found out.

Science no longer counts

Bothsidesism ( here ), also known as false balance reporting, can affect the public's ability to distinguish fact from fiction and lead audiences to ignore the scientific consensus on pressing societal challenges such as doubt climate change.

The argument that climate change is not caused by humans has been refuted time and time again by the vast majority of scientists, but many Americans believe that the global crisis is either not real, not caused by humans, or both - in part because the News media have given climate change deniers an extensive platform in the name of balanced reporting, researchers say.

Confusion about corona masks

Debates about the effectiveness of mask-wearing in preventing the spread of COVID-19 are another relevant example, says research leader David Rapp. Doctors largely agree that it is beneficial, but the loud voices of a few people who disagree are causing unnecessary confusion.

The team conducted experiments to test how people react when two positions on climate change are presented as equally valid perspectives, even though one side is based on scientific consensus and the other is not. “When both sides of an argument are presented equally, people are less likely to believe that climate change is something to worry about,” Rapp said.

Three risks of “bothsidesism”

Presenting problem cases in a balanced way could trigger one of three problematic outcomes: doubts about whether there is consensus; confusion about what is true; and a tendency to prefer the appeasing option. “That is, someone argues that climate change is nothing to worry about, so I won't worry about it.” Rapp and his former student Megan Imundo recommend journalists emphasize that there is broad agreement among scientists about its existence of climate change in order to avoid misinterpretations.

Source: Press release t

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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )