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My personal musings about anything that gets on my radar screen--heavily dominated by politics.

2010-10-03

Here's Where the Media Really Shows Their Bias 

Like that's a short subject, right?

But, really, I've started to think that media bias is fas less in the questions that they ask than it is in the questions they either selectively ask or don't ask at all. For example:

The Denver Post/9News have a new poll out today done by Survey USA. Among other things, it shows that John Hickenlooper still holds a commanding lead, with 46% to Tom Tancredo's 34% and Dan Maes 15%. Here's what's wrong: in every poll early in the process in which Dan Maes was ahead of Tancredo, the media/pollsters would ask about the scenario if Tancredo dropped out; now that Tancredo's comfortably ahead of Maes, nobody is bothering to ask that question.

I think they don't want to know the answer.

I'd bet Adam Schrager would tell you that they don't ask that question because that's not the way the ballot reads, and they prefer to deal in reality. But that doesn't answer why they would do that a couple months ago.

Consider the consequences to this race if they asked the question and found out that in that scenario Hick and Tancredo were neck-and-neck. The pressure on Dan Maes to drop out would become astronomical! Not only that, the momentum swing towards Tancredo would be palpable, and the complexion of the race would change overnight.

And then the media would have to write something other than "Republicans cannibalize themselves" as their meme this cycle.

And then they would have to prepare to write about the "surprise" Tancredo victory when thousands of Maes supporters arrive in the voting booth and consider their vote more carefully.

This stuff seems obvious--why don't the "professional journalists" see it that way?
Posted by: Michael / 10/03/2010 11:05:00 PM

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