Liberal influencer and media personality Rachel Maddow is calling out the media for the perilous practice of Bothsidesism, a coinage built to describe the journalistic practice of creating false equivalence between disparate situations in the interest of trying to treat “both sides” fairly.
The result, since both sides are rarely equal, is a unnaturally balanced narrative ecosystem that gives equal weight to the complaints and accomplishments of Democrats and Republicans, or science and quackery. Rather than have the scale tilt toward the truth, bothsidesism manipulates the facts to falsely create a perception of “fairness.”
Bothsidesism is the modern equivalent of affording Copernicus and Ptolemy the same credibility about the solar system, when in reality heliocentrism beats geocentrism every time. It is a well-intended effort to combat bias that has gone off the rails.
Calling out “Bothsidesism” as “malpractice,” Maddow avers that never in her lifetime was the predisposition toward false equivalence so dangerous and so irresponsible, since there is no legitimate way to equate, say, a former President indicted by four grand juries and charged with 91 felonies with evidence-free innuendo about the current President.
Rachel #Maddow hammers bothsidesism, "Bothsidesism about our two major political parties has really never been more outdated, not in my lifetime. Right now it is not just
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) October 3, 2023
unwarranted. It is malpractice." pic.twitter.com/cGEw1izTCa
“Bothsidesism about our two major political parties,” Maddow says, “has really never been more outdated, not in my lifetime. Right now it is not just unwarranted. It is malpractice.”
A research paper by Jess Kirby at the University of Mary Washington makes the following assertions about “bothsidesism.”
- bothsidesism is a fallacious rhetorical tactic that minimizes objective fact;
- the term “bothsidesism” and the act of practicing it both reinforce bipartisan thought, which stymies political action;
- false balance is at odds with the role of a journalist; and
- false balance is perpetuated by comment sections.
An article from Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy puts it this way:
“Bothsidesism”—the practice in the media of presenting both sides of an issue regardless of evidence, facts, or the credibility of sources— grew out of a pressure on news- rooms to avoid showing bias in their reporting. The idea is to be balanced, to be fair. Now researchers and media professionals say that pervasive bothsidesism damages the public’s ability to distinguish evidence-based information.
