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Diversity of Journalisms. Proceedings of ECREA/CICOM Conference, Pamplona, 4-5 July 2011
Balance as a Source of Misinformation. A Study of the
Coverage of the Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change in the
Spanish Press
Bienvenido León
University of Navarra, Spain
Abstract
Among traditional journalistic norms, balance has played a key role, as it is often seen
as a criterion that portrays the pursuits of objectivity. Balance reporting is seen by
journalists as a tool to present the views of legitimate spokespersons of the conflicting
sides in a dispute and provide both sides with equal attention.
However, in the coverage of climate science, balance has also been regarded as a
factor that can contribute to misinformation, by way of disguising bad journalistic
practices, as it has enabled that the views of the so called ´climate change sceptics’
have had a more relevant position in the media than within the scientific community.
This paper analyzes the coverage of the International Conference on Climate Change,
promoted by the United Nations (Copenhagen, December 2009), by the two leading
Spanish newspapers (El País and El Mundo). Results indicate that the use of balance
is subject to the editorial line of each newspaper. Although, scientific consensus is not
directly disputed in information or editorial articles, balance can still be used as a tool to
support the editorial line, thus becoming a possible source of misinformation. While one
of the newspapers backs established scientific knowledge, the other one maintains an
ambivalent position, by supporting the scientific consensus on the editorial articles, and
presenting the sceptical point of view, especially in opinion articles.
Introduction
For over a century, balance has been an accepted and important journalistic norm, as
one of the pillars of the notion of objectivity, which crystallized in American journalism
in the second half of the 19 th century. Since then, the balance norm has been a
relevant standard, although, in practice, not all journalists have implemented it
uniformly and it has manifested in different ways (Antilla, 2005).
Since objectivity implies to represent fairly each side of a controversy, balance
reporting is considered to be an important tool to provide all points of view with equal
attention (Michael, 2001, p. 150). Balance aims for neutrality, a notion opposed to that
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