On false balance in journalism - a thread.
I worked in advanced driver training for teenagers for 30 years. I’m also a qualified teacher of the deaf, so have some basic understanding of both statistics & language use. I’d like to point out how “telling both sides” is so wrong.
I worked in advanced driver training for teenagers for 30 years. I’m also a qualified teacher of the deaf, so have some basic understanding of both statistics & language use. I’d like to point out how “telling both sides” is so wrong.
2. In my work over the years, I’ve heard many adults & teenagers tell me they drive better drunk & disagree with drink driving law. Others that being drunk is an advantage if you crash as your body is more relaxed. MANY. This is a COMMON driving myth that lots believe.
3. I’ve also heard many drivers say seatbelts are unsafe. MANY. There’s a common belief that in a crash, seatbelts can strangle you and break your neck. Another one that you’ll be thrown clear if not wearing a belt which is safer, esp. if the car catches fire.
4. Another that seatbelts are unsafe for pregnant women. Another that babies are safer in an adult’s arms. I hear these ALL THE TIME. My job was to discuss and debunk them using reasoning & evidence, and I did. Sometimes it was hard work. But that’s part of making people safer.
5. If any of those myths surprise you, there’s only 1 main reason for that - THE MEDIA DON’T ALLOW THEM TO SPREAD. We never hear a road safety expert up against a seatbelt-denier on TV, or have a radio debate where a drunk driver is up against a cop, each with a respected POV.
6. Just doesn’t happen. We know those myths are myths and we’re not really allowed to debate them (altho many do in private). We also have stringent laws around info on this. The media would be vilified & crucified for going against science & evidence on these issues.
7. There are many reasons the same “rules” aren’t true of vaccination & climate science, but the crime - for media such as @abchobart which gave a platform to an anti-vaxxer last week - is as bad as if we let the opinions of a few foolish, uninformed drunk drivers rule.
8. We don’t think enough about how life-endangering it is the media lets people without evidence have an equal say. Some weeks ago I was on @abcadelaide debating Kevin Donnelly, who knows nothing of MVAW yet was given an equal say on a sexual violence issue. This was also wrong.
9. If I’d been a guest debating road safety, they would never have included someone opposite me for “balance”. Yet on MVAW, climate science, vaccination and a few other topics, somehow the non-experts get a voice. IT COSTS LIVES. IT MAY COST ALL OF US OUR LIVES.
10. Next time you hear a “debate” where one side’s scientifically or otherwise clearly wrong, don’t let them get away with it. Remember how we don’t allow this with road safety, and there’s no “rule” that says we should with any topic. It’s not “unfair” to deny a voice to idiots.
11. In fact, it’s unfair to all of us to be polite on this. We must all hold the media to account. Facts matter. Science matters. “Balance” does NOT matter, & civility in the name of balance should be a crime. Train journalists better & refuse to allow this behaviour. End.
PS: to clarify, there ARE crashes where drunk drivers survive cos they’re more relaxed, where seatbelts kill people, where those thrown clear are luckier & where belts kill unborn kids. The myths I’ve described aren’t always myths. But STATISTICALLY, they’re dangerously false.
