A national scientific panel yesterday blamed media misinformation in part on the “journalistic norm” of presenting two sides to every story. The Council of Canadian Academies said publicizing alternative viewpoints on issues like carbon taxes creates a “false balance of perspectives.".“Some journalistic norms contribute to misinformation, such as the tendency to present both sides of a debate as having equal weight, artificially creating a false balance of perspectives even in cases where the science is conclusive,” said a Council report. “The effects of a false balance in media have been observed in public discourse on climate science, genetically modified organisms and nuclear power,” it added..The report said unnamed media contributed to “creating opposition” to programs like climate change initiatives. “Targeted misinformation campaigns have played a documented role in creating opposition to policies addressing climate change and the widespread and increasing human and economic damage it is causing,” said the report..Similarly, the Council said misinformation about the safety of nuclear energy and genetically modified foods has harmed efforts to manage nuclear waste and improve global nutrition..“As science and health misinformation becomes intertwined with ideology and identity it is also increasingly weaponized for political gain, feeding off and contributing to political polarization," they said..“The proliferation of talk radio, cable news, online message boards and social media likely contributes to the post-truth era in which the validity and legitimacy of information and knowledge institutions in government, academia, science and health care are increasingly challenged,” wrote the Council..The Council wrote that when presented with comments from an equal number of opposing experts, people tend to perceive lower levels of consensus, even when commentaries are accompanied by data showing that more experts support one side over the other..“Bad actors specifically target and manipulate media outlets by using journalistic norms and standards to amplify misinformation and extremist messaging and to shift our expectations about what topics of debate in the public discourse are most critical,” it added..An example cited by the Council was criticism “framing carbon taxes as ‘job killing,’” said the report. “In fact evidence indicates that climate change policies, particularly pricing including carbon taxes, boost levels of employment or leave them unchanged.”.The report did not elaborate. The Parliamentary Budget Office in a 2022 Distributional Analysis Of Federal Carbon Pricing said carbon taxes did in fact have an “overall negative economic impact.”
