The Crisis at The Times And That Public Editor Piece: I had a chance to read New York Times public editor Liz Spayd's much discussed column on "false balance." I've seen many 'false balance' critics attacking it and countless national news reporters embracing it. Spayd locks in on some real shortcomings of this media critique. But they are largely clumsy versions of the argument which allow Spayd to ignore the actual criticism. And she concludes with what amounts to a generalized, all good, Times reporters!, please don't be "intimidated" by these arguments.
The reality is that the contemporary journalistic concept of 'balance' is inevitably in tension with accuracy. How to resolve that tension is a point of debate. To essentially deny the tension, as Spayd does, shows you're just not engaging the question.
Let me start by saying that it is easy to allow 'false balance' or 'false equivalence' critiques to devolve into, "You're not covering what I'm seeing? My side isn't as bad as the other side. But you're not making that clear." I've definitely seen that happen. But disputing this reasoning hardly addresses the actual critique or debate.
Spayd also addresses a different argument which I have also heard, which is basically: "There's so much at stake in this election, the media needs to make sure to people know how bad Trump is." People say lots of things. That's not the argument about 'false balance'. It's a different, not terribly well-thought-out argument that the news media should essentially weaponize itself to save the republic from Donald Trump. The republic does need saving. But the best way for the media to do that is simply to do its actual job, which is to separate facts from non-facts and provide clarity and context to the flurry of information and misinformation that political campaigns inevitably combine and spew in equal measure.
The reality is that the contemporary journalistic concept of 'balance' is inevitably in tension with accuracy. How to resolve that tension is a point of debate. To essentially deny the tension, as Spayd does, shows you're just not engaging the question.
Let me start by saying that it is easy to allow 'false balance' or 'false equivalence' critiques to devolve into, "You're not covering what I'm seeing? My side isn't as bad as the other side. But you're not making that clear." I've definitely seen that happen. But disputing this reasoning hardly addresses the actual critique or debate.
Spayd also addresses a different argument which I have also heard, which is basically: "There's so much at stake in this election, the media needs to make sure to people know how bad Trump is." People say lots of things. That's not the argument about 'false balance'. It's a different, not terribly well-thought-out argument that the news media should essentially weaponize itself to save the republic from Donald Trump. The republic does need saving. But the best way for the media to do that is simply to do its actual job, which is to separate facts from non-facts and provide clarity and context to the flurry of information and misinformation that political campaigns inevitably combine and spew in equal measure.