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Also called: adversarial

Hearsay is a principle from journalism and jurisprudence whereby an issue is not presented in a one-sided manner but different parties are given the opportunity to express their views. This prevents a reader, viewer or, in the case of a court case, a judge from judging based on only one of the two parties.

In journalism, rebuttal is common when writing an article or making a broadcast in which one party makes accusations or accusations about another. In such cases, it is proper to give the other party the opportunity to respond with their own view of the matter. This gives the opportunity to provide new facts and refute incorrect facts, and to argue one's own view and comment on the other party's opinion. Sometimes the other side chooses not to comment.

The principle of rebuttal assumes that justice and journalism are objective and that a judge or the public should be able to determine for themselves who is right. A journalist's job is to bring the truth. Where parties contradict each other, the public itself should be able to weigh who is right. Applying the adversarial process is usually prescribed in a code of conduct or editorial statute.

In addition to truth-telling, whether it involves finding deliberately proclaimed falsehoods or clarifying misunderstandings and assumptions, hearsay can help provide a publication with the necessary nuances and additions.

In English, the principle of adversarial proceedings is referred to as "right of reply. The expression "audi alteram partem," derived from Roman law, is also used. Translated from Latin, it means 'hear also the other party'.