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Journalism & Media vocabulary · Media Ethics and Law

False balance

Meaning in journalism & media, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In journalism & media, false balance means: Presentation that gives unequal bodies of evidence similar weight and thereby misleads the audience.

In Turkish: yanlış denge, yanıltıcı denge

How it is used

Use when equal treatment misrepresents the evidence; disagreement alone does not establish false balance.

Example sentences

  1. Giving one unsupported rumour half the report created false balance.

    The allocation of space suggests evidential equality that has not been established.

  2. The producer avoided false balance by explaining why the two claims had different support.

    Fairness can require making differences in evidence visible to the audience.

Common collocations

  • create false balance
  • avoid false balance
  • false balance in reporting
  • objectivityThe principle of reporting facts as they are, without letting the journalist's own feelings, opinions or interests shape the story.
  • fact-checkTo check whether the names, numbers, dates and claims in a story or statement are correct before or after it is published; as a noun, the check itself.

More terms: Media Ethics and Law

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