Manufactured ‘both sides’ coverage made the public believe science was genuinely divided

Evidence

Naturally, the public was confused. Was there a scientific controversy over climate change or not? If not, why were the TV shows presenting it as if there were one? The media may have told themselves that it was not their job to take a stand on a “partisan” issue, but in an environment in which a little research surely would have told them that scientists were not divided, this amounted to journalistic malpractice. The goal of objectivity is not to give equal time between truth and falsehood—it is to facilitate the truth. Since scientists had already reached a consensus on climate change, the only “controversy” afoot was a political one that had been stirred up by the oil companies and those who believed their lies. The upshot is that even though there was no actual scientific controversy—just as forty years before there had been none over the link between smoking and cancer—the public thought that there was one. — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 164

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the Milgrom law-merchant material: institutions/trust — here the media’s objectivity norm getting weaponized. — connects to: Split-screen debates made settled science look genuinely controversial to viewers. — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 163; Journalistic both-sides coverage can be weaponized to manufacture public ignorance — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 628; Balanced-reporting norms let fringe deniers distort coverage of settled science — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 169 (+3 more)
• DEEPTHINKING: The sentence ‘The goal of objectivity is not to give equal time between truth and falsehood—it is to facilitate the truth’ is a standout compressed definition worth sitting with.

Broader Connections

• Split-screen debates made settled science look genuinely controversial to viewers. #corroborates (0.92) — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 163
• Journalistic both-sides coverage can be weaponized to manufacture public ignorance #expands (0.90) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 628
• Media false balance gave a discredited vaccine claim lasting public credibility #exemplifies (0.90) — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 261
• Evenhanded journalism can itself bias public scientific belief #corroborates (0.88) — Cailin O’Connor and James Owen Weatherall, The Misinformation Age, 61
• Balanced-reporting norms let fringe deniers distort coverage of settled science #qualifies (0.85) — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 169
• Manufactured doubt, not genuine debate, explains public confusion over climate science consensus #corroborates (0.85) — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 75