Journalists in the United States differ markedly from the general public in their views of “bothsidesism” – whether journalists should always strive to give equal coverage to all sides of an issue – according to a recent Pew Research Center study. A little more than half of the journalists surveyed (55%) say that every side does not always deserve equal coverage in the news. By contrast, 22% of Americans overall say the same, whereas about three-quarters (76%) say journalists should always strive to give all sides equal coverage.
It is not surprising that most people would say "of course!" when a poll asks about covering both sides. On its face, the answer seems obvious. My guess, however, is that most journalists have had to think a little more deeply. Yes, it makes sense to cover both sides of a bill in Congress or a state legislature. But what about settled science? Do journalists have to give equal coverage to flat earthers? Such people do exist:
Best sentence of the day: “Today I entered the public debate over the ‘flat earth’ issue.”
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) June 13, 2022
That’s the one to beat. Get to it, Internet. https://t.co/nuA3Ei5WRG
