bothsidesism

bothsidesism

English

Etymology

From both sides +‎ -ism.

Noun

bothsidesism (uncountable)

1. A tendency to treat all policy debates as if the opposing sides present equally strong arguments.
   • 2016, Paul Krugman, Both Sides Now?, The New York Times (July 18, 2016):

     And the reason is that too much of the news media still can't break with bothsidesism — the almost pathological determination to portray politicians and their programs as being equally good or equally bad, no matter how ludicrous that pretense becomes.

   • 2017, Justin Fox Being Sure You're Right Makes You Weaker, Bloomberg View (September 21, 2017):

     This is not the same as the dreaded bothsidesism, where you assign equal value to opposing positions and split the difference.

See also

• whataboutism