One point that too often gets neglected, including here, in commentary about "even-handedness" (i.e. irresponsibility) at the NYTimes is headlines. That's all that many readers read and much of what they retain. The Times has been egregiously awful in choosing headlines that exacerbate the problem about which Michael writes here and elsewhere, when a revealing article about Trump's predations, pathologies or mindlessness can be eviscerated by a softball headline.
yes yes yes. Preaching to the converted. The problem I have been having with polls isn't just their methodology but that they never seem to ask the right questions. Instead of "are you better off than you were four years ago" say "2020 was four years ago. How do you remember life in 2020? Would you support once again eliminating a national pandemic response team? Do you know which candidate is supporting that?" Instead of asking about a belief in climate change, ask "have you experienced extreme weather more recently (extreme hot, cold, flooding, tornados, etc). Would you support enacting measures that MIGHT make that worse?
I don't see why polls can't educate at the same time as they ask opinions, particularly the ones that are ultimately "horse race." But simply publicizing how people react to the actual issues facing us, might make more people begin to think about them. We are too entranced with abstract language in asking people what they think. Give them something concrete they can think ABOUT and then ask them what they think about it.
Very informative post. Thank you, and I followed some of the links as well. So much to learn with so little time. I do believe this coming election is pivotal for the future of democracy.
Why did the NYT put out this poll? Sienna college did a poll by NPR showing Biden with a 3 point lead? After the Times over sampling poll other pollsters with Republican owned companies have mirrored the Times poll.
The free press can not turn their back, put out poorly done polling, in an attempt to to avoid responsibility.The NYTSiena polling over sampled Republicans and conservatives. Now the Trump Maga crowd is using it in there campaign tacking to draw more Americans into their cult.
Why is it Biden’s responsibility to stop a fascist movement now when we saw it coming for at least a decade. Is it Biden’s responsibility to stop it from happening in Europe? The media is as responsible. The free press helped to break through to the those behind the wall in communist Europe. Radio free Europe. It wasn’t a political Leader who was responsible!!!
"It is not the job of the news media to prevent that from happening. It’s the job of Biden and the people around Biden to prevent that from happening."
The problem is that the media interprets that as that it is Biden's job to inform the American people about the threat, and so for the media to mention it would be "biased against Trump" ... which is all sorts of wrongheaded.
Nicely done, though if the NYT didn’t have universal paywalls, I still wouldn’t give them the click. I suspect, but don’t know, that their reader demographics don’t include younger voters, or many serious voters, myself included, who have stopped throwing good money after bad, and moved on to more responsible journalism.
Presumably because he was talking about deportation: "most infamous ethnic roundups and deportations" refers to times that people were rounded up and deported, not to times people were rounded up and times people were deported.
One point that too often gets neglected, including here, in commentary about "even-handedness" (i.e. irresponsibility) at the NYTimes is headlines. That's all that many readers read and much of what they retain. The Times has been egregiously awful in choosing headlines that exacerbate the problem about which Michael writes here and elsewhere, when a revealing article about Trump's predations, pathologies or mindlessness can be eviscerated by a softball headline.
yes yes yes. Preaching to the converted. The problem I have been having with polls isn't just their methodology but that they never seem to ask the right questions. Instead of "are you better off than you were four years ago" say "2020 was four years ago. How do you remember life in 2020? Would you support once again eliminating a national pandemic response team? Do you know which candidate is supporting that?" Instead of asking about a belief in climate change, ask "have you experienced extreme weather more recently (extreme hot, cold, flooding, tornados, etc). Would you support enacting measures that MIGHT make that worse?
I don't see why polls can't educate at the same time as they ask opinions, particularly the ones that are ultimately "horse race." But simply publicizing how people react to the actual issues facing us, might make more people begin to think about them. We are too entranced with abstract language in asking people what they think. Give them something concrete they can think ABOUT and then ask them what they think about it.
Very thought provoking and well researched, thank you!
Excellent, thank you for sharing your work and research, it’s so needed right now.
Very informative post. Thank you, and I followed some of the links as well. So much to learn with so little time. I do believe this coming election is pivotal for the future of democracy.
These polls are saying that it’s the economy, that’s keeping Biden’s polls low. Yet last year at this time Biden was leading and inflation was higher.
Why did the NYT put out this poll? Sienna college did a poll by NPR showing Biden with a 3 point lead? After the Times over sampling poll other pollsters with Republican owned companies have mirrored the Times poll.
The free press can not turn their back, put out poorly done polling, in an attempt to to avoid responsibility.The NYTSiena polling over sampled Republicans and conservatives. Now the Trump Maga crowd is using it in there campaign tacking to draw more Americans into their cult.
It wasn’t Regan, although he got the credit.
Why is it Biden’s responsibility to stop a fascist movement now when we saw it coming for at least a decade. Is it Biden’s responsibility to stop it from happening in Europe? The media is as responsible. The free press helped to break through to the those behind the wall in communist Europe. Radio free Europe. It wasn’t a political Leader who was responsible!!!
"It is not the job of the news media to prevent that from happening. It’s the job of Biden and the people around Biden to prevent that from happening."
The problem is that the media interprets that as that it is Biden's job to inform the American people about the threat, and so for the media to mention it would be "biased against Trump" ... which is all sorts of wrongheaded.
Nicely done, though if the NYT didn’t have universal paywalls, I still wouldn’t give them the click. I suspect, but don’t know, that their reader demographics don’t include younger voters, or many serious voters, myself included, who have stopped throwing good money after bad, and moved on to more responsible journalism.
I would have expected to see Japanese-American internment (about 120,000 people according to Wikipedia) mentioned in footnote 4
Perhaps also the many displacements of indigenous people.
Presumably because he was talking about deportation: "most infamous ethnic roundups and deportations" refers to times that people were rounded up and deported, not to times people were rounded up and times people were deported.