Balance as bias

Think Progress has an excellent example of the media's use of "balance" to create bias:

The media - desperate not to appear biased - tries to create balance between competing points of view in each story. This kind of artificial balancing act is, of course, it’s own type of bias. But people tend to get less upset about it, so the media is less concerned.

A perfect example is the coverage of Sen. Rick Santorum’s remarks Thursday night, when he compared opponents of the nuclear option to Hitler. The media couldn’t allow itself to report Santorum’s comments in isolation. Rather, reporters paired Santorum’s comments with those of Frank Lautenberg, who compared filibuster proponents to a Star Wars character named Palpatine.

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