bothsidesism

The classic example of bothsidesism has become the response of Trump in 2017 to the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, when the white nationalists and Neo-Nazis turned on the people opposed to them with some violence. Trump commented that ‘there were very fine people on both sides’.

 The name for this type of bias has given rise to the verb to bothsides. It is mostly the media who are held to account because they have bothsidesed groups who support opposite points of view, ostensibly because they want to appear to be neutral but in fact because they wish to give some credence to a view that most people would regard as morally or intellectually indefensible.  There are a number of politicians who have followed Trump’s example and tried to appear as if they were just giving everyone a fair go when in fact they are trying to muddy the waters.

Sure enough, as if on cue, First Dog on the Moon describe’s the media’s take on climate change thus:

We’ve been reporting both sides* of this story equally for years now and what is important is that everyone stays nice.

• on which there are good people