It's interesting that the "other side" is given opportunity to appear in the Slovak media according to this article... Don't watch TV much but haven't noticed anything like this here in Czechia. People and politicians are against lockdowns but it's not my impression that there is a strong number of people who would otherwise hold very different opinions. Maybe Slovakia is different? u/CottageSamuel

Unfortunately, this was not the first time that RTVS or other news media in Slovakia have fallen into the trap of trying to offer “false balance” or “bothsidesism” in their reporting, in the name of defending objectivity and non-partisanship. It was also not the first time they had allowed disinformation to get its foot in the door.

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Avoiding a confrontation in front of the cameras, the show’s host, Marek Makara, gave up after asking Kotleba to follow the rules several times. Besides refusing to protect himself and others, Kotleba went on to spread one hoax and conspiracy theory after another, throughout the entire show. The “balanced” debate turned into a wild struggle by the other two government MPs to debunk all the disinformation spewing out of Kotleba’s mouth. As a result, no solutions and even less sense was offered to viewers.

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And since the “other side” rarely respects facts and scientific findings, it is always a struggle to keep them in line and offer the right arguments. How do you argue with someone who is not ashamed to lie or manipulate the facts? With COVID-19, we have seen a copy-paste situation, not just in Slovakia, but all around Europe, the US and the world. Slovakia, however, appears much more prone to believe in disinformation than other countries.

Yet however firmly we might believe in balance and giving space to all sides of the story, the media’s primary mission should always be to protect and promote the truth. And the truth lies in facts, science and data. And the truth is, not all opinions carry the same weight. There are opinions based on facts and evidence, and there are opinions that are baseless, or built on misunderstood information. And it is the role of journalists to make sense of it all.