Saturday, December 9, 2023

Welcome to poll-based, fill-in-the-blanks political journalism


Headlines: CBS News,  ABC News, Forbes

New York Times, 1/23/2016
Over a monthlong period ending Thursday night — a monthlong period, mind you, that included the Christmas and New Year’s break — there were 11 polls in Iowa, 10 in New Hampshire and nine nationally. There were polls focused on 10 different states. 
And their findings were often treated as breathless news. On Wednesday evening, I visited the home page of the Politico website — I’m using Politico as a random example — and spotted four stories that were essentially about poll results. 
My television was on: The CNN anchor Erin Burnett began her show with a report on the latest poll.
 

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