You've probably come to the conclusion that while balance is something to certainly strive for, it can be very difficult to look objectively at everything -- we are humans after all.
Here's a clip from CNN Special Correspondent Christiane Amanpour from her talk at Stony Brook University in February of 2013 about the difficulty of maintaining balance when reporting in a Bosnian war zone in the 1990's.
(Note: This clip is intended to end at 46 seconds. It's not an error.)
As she explains, as a reporter, you fight to maintain balance, but you can't equate an aggressor with the victim.
Would a “balanced” news report about the Bosnian Civil War give equal time to people who say reports of ethnic cleansing and military rape are all myths? That both sides are engaged in an immoral war? Would that be balanced? Would that be fair or unfair? To whom? (to consumers, to the evidence.)
In a case like this, a precisely measured “balance” could be inaccurate, giving undue weight to falsehood or unsupported assertions.
So, is Balance the Same as Fairness?
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