Balance as Bias

[Dru]

Boykoff, M.T. and J.M. Boykoff. 2004. Balance as bias: global warming and

the US prestige press. Global Env Change 14: 125-136.

In this article, researchers did a content analysis of the New York Times,

the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and the Wall Street Journal for

the period 1988-2002, and found that adherence to journalistic balance leads

to biased coverage of both anthropogenic contributions to climate change and

resultant actions. They found that the majority of coverage (53%) gave

roughly equal attention to the view that humans were contributing to global

warming, and that other view that exclusively natural fluctuations could

explain the earth's temperature increase. They also found that this trend

towards informational bias has increased with time. By looking at the

year-to-year distribution of coverage of anthropogenic contributions, they

found that while in 1988 and 1989 the focus was on the anthropogenic

contribution, by the release of the IPCC's First Assessment Report in 1990

the emphasis was moving towards balanced accounts. From 1990 forward,

authors explain this shift by the politicization of the issue and the

coalescence of a small group of influential spokespeople and scientists that

emerged in the news to refute these findings. These "skeptics" have been

very influential in the climate change debate in emphasizing uncertainty and

delays in action. Boykoff and Boykoff conclude that there is a significant

difference between the scientific community discourse and that of the press

regarding both anthropogenic contributions to climate change and decisions

regarding action.

 

Discuss

[willstrickland]

It's not limited to the climate change debate by any means, it's a shift in "journalism". I've been reading alot lately about the political process as covered by the media, and how the shift toward giving the "he said/she said" story coverage without ever fact checking the sides or commenting on the veracity of each side's claims.

 

It's the "new journalism". 20 years of pounding the "biased media" talking point has turned the press into a proxy shill for both the left and the right. They will give equal time and credence to both views even if one of them is demonstrably wrong.

 

The people couldn't be bothered to care....'cause we're goin' to MARS BITCH!

[scott_harpell]

paving the way for an army of Brian Blairs...

[Dru]

See here for the same phenomenon in biology:

 

Intelligent design given equal time with evolution

[willstrickland]

Scott who is Brian Blair? Do you mean Jayson Blair, the disgraced NY Times reporter who just made things up?

[rbw1966]

Or Tony Blair?

[Dru]

Or the Blair Witch?

[Greg_W]

Or Blair from that 80's show.

[Dru]

This Brian Blair is a gay WWE wrestler