People who follow media criticism are likely aware of the term “false balance,” used to describe coverage that presents “both sides” of an issue as if they are equivalent–when they are anything but. Does that label apply to coverage of the current Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip?

A November 15 Washington Post headline read, “Civilians in Gaza, Israel Suffer Amid Conflict.” The piece would appear to want to give readers the sense that comparable suffering is occurring on both sides. But reality tells a different story–one that is not so symmetrical.

The piece begins in a Gaza hospital, where an eight-month-old with a shrapnel wound to the head is being treated. She does not survive, and becomes at that point the 16th Palestinian to die in the current violence. But the Post nonetheless tries to stick to the formula:

As the Israeli military assault ramped up and militants retaliated with rockets, civilians on both sides faced painful but all-too-familiar scenes. On the Israeli side, three have died from rockets fired from Gaza. And these deaths, Israeli officials argue, were preventable: Israel’s minister for civil defense, Avi Dichter, told reporters that the three would not have died had they followed instructions and stayed in a shelter or in the rear of their apartment. Few in Gaza can hide in bomb shelters or rely on air raid sirens to warn of incoming attacks. But the media desire to make the suffering seem proportional could be seen elsewhere. In the Los Angeles Times (11/17/12), Edmund Sanders reported:

Back-and-forth violence between Israel and Hamas left civilians on both sides digging out of rubble and broken glass Saturday as the conflict entered its fourth day.