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Is bothsidesism killing us? (And why scientific consensus matters) - Healthy Debate https://healthydebate.ca/2023/08/topic/bothsidesism-scientific-consensus-matters/ “While the issue of #falsebalance is usually linked to how journalists represent topics, false balance is increasingly driven by #socialmedia #echochambers, the fragmentation of the news media and the ideologically motivated embrace of fringe ideas. Too often this has allowed a small cohort of vocal contrarians to have an outsized impact on public policy and public perceptions.”
“Much of the harms that flow from false balance happen because it creates an impression that the science is more contested than it is. An interesting study from 2022 illustrates how this can fuel harmful misperceptions about important health topics.
The study, done in the Czech Republic, found that 90 per cent of those in the public underestimate how much physicians trust the COVID vaccines.”
“Indeed, almost half believe that only 50 per cent of doctors trust the vaccines. And four out of five “assumed the medical community is undecided.” In reality, almost 90 per cent of physicians say they trust the COVID vaccines and only 2 per cent say they don’t. Importantly, the lack of knowledge about the strong physician consensus had an adverse impact on the intention to vaccinate.”