ALogical Fallacy
False Balance
Description
False Balance is the polite mask of injustice in argument: unequal claims are seated as equals, and error is dressed in the robes of fairness.
Why This Works
It works because people fear appearing partial more than they fear being wrong. So they divide attention evenly, even when truth is not evenly divided.
Example 1
A host says, “One side trusts broad clinical evidence, the other says it is all fabricated; let us hear both equally.” Equal time is offered where equal evidence is absent.
Example 2
A report gives one paragraph to measured data and one paragraph to rumor, as though symmetry in layout could create symmetry in reality.