False balance is one of the most common journalistic norms utilized by news reporters speaking on behalf of large media organizations. False balance is characterized by reporters' reluctance to make statements or take sides on controversial stories in the news for fear of receiving backlash from powerful media executives and company shareholders. This may seem like an innocuous or even prudent practice, but declining to challenge or offer real insight on issues in the media can have a great deal of influence in the public opinion of news media consumers.
News media is a primary source of information for many people in this day and age, and with 24/7 news occurring and being broadcasted on various different platforms, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to avoid witnessing news. Several interactions with news media each day added up mean a great deal of contact overall with new media in our lives. Suffice it to say that news media, whether consciously or unconsciously, has a hand in molding public opinion surrounding certain topics.
Now, when journalists prioritize serving the wishes of their executives and shareholders over providing quality news to viewers, this changes the opinions expressed and even choice of stories being covered. The big wigs all hear what they want to hear, but the public is being deprived of fair and accurate news coverage.
The effects of this kind of journalism trickle down, eventually. People, viewing journalists as authority figures whose word can be relied on, cannot help but be swayed by what they hear on the news. Multiply this process times a few million people and one can see that journalists have a hand in forming public opinion.
This can quickly go downhill if we are being supplied with misinformation and being deprived of access to complete and fair journalism. If we are not careful, we could all be living in one big lie. It sounds severe, but these small misrepresentations and coverage fumbles on the part of major media organizations compounded can color public opinion.
The good news is that we all can individually work to improve this situation. We all can make a difference every day through the news sources we use when we seek out information. We need to cultivate our knowledge with high-quality news sources so that we know the complete story and form our opinion toward that issue with a good foundation of knowledge. That way, we will recognize false balance and other negative journalistic norms when we see them.
I urge people to be aware of when sides need to be taken on important issues, even if they are controversial and demand fair journalistic coverage!
