The Israeli army’s punitive expedition in Gaza has revived a major aspiration of modern journalism: the right to be lazy. In professional terms, this is known as “balance” (the far-right US television channel Fox News describes itself, not without irony, as “fair and balanced”). In the Middle East conflict, where the wrongs are not equally divided, “balance” gives the occupying power an advantage. It also enables western journalists to escape the anger of those who dislike hearing inconvenient (...)