General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPaul Krugman- Reporting that makes you stupid (media pushing 'race is tied' meme)
Todays Financial Times bears a banner headline on p.1: US election hangs on a knife edge. Aside from everything else, surely this gets the cliche wrong: you rest on a knife edge, dont you? If you try to hang on one, I think you just cut off your fingers.
More important, though, this headline deeply misleads readers about the state of the race and in so doing, it echoes a lot of political reporting right now. Quite simply, many of the analysis articles being published in these final days leave readers worse informed than they were before reading.
As Nate Silver (who has lately attracted a remarkable amount of hate welcome to my world, Nate!) clearly explains, state polling currently points overwhelmingly to an Obama victory. Its possible that the polls are systematically biased and this bias has to encompass almost all the polls, since even Rasmussen is now showing Ohio tied. So Romney might yet win. But a knife-edge this really isnt, and any reporting suggesting that it is makes you stupider.
Worse yet, some reporting tells readers things the reporters have to know arent true. How many stories have you seen declaring that both sides think theyre winning? No, they dont: the Romney campaign is visibly flailing, trying desperately to find new fronts on which to attack Obama. They clearly know that it will take a miracle sorry, a last-minute surge to prevail on Tuesday. Its OK, I guess, to report campaign spin; but surely its not OK to report campaign spin as the truth, which is what these stories are doing.
more
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/03/reporting-that-makes-you-stupid/
Cha
(297,655 posts)Tennessee Gal
(6,160 posts)Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)libodem
(19,288 posts)Everything he said!
Lazy media is right. Campaigners know that if you send the article already written or recorded for consumption, all they have to do is get it to the news outlet. All the bias is blended in.
This tight race meme is to keep people consuming 24/7 cable, it happens to be what sells, not truth.
If ya say, the wankers have lost the whole thing already, the big babies cry liberal media and we feel sorry for them and stop telling, the truth and move the press further right to compensate for their lack of being able to see reality.
zbdent
(35,392 posts)10 men without a cent to their names are standing on a corner. Bill Gates decides to stand with them. One man says to the other, "On average, we're all millionaires ..."
auto1969
(36 posts)New member but been visiting for years. If I didn't read my news here, I would have given up a long time ago. Awesome to get truthful news, polls, and reporting. I'm dying to be able to submit my 1st post. I need help with my insane, teabag, zealot sister in response to an email. Can't wait for your assistance.
SkyDaddy7
(6,045 posts)Yes, DU can be a very helpful & friendly place.
auto1969
(36 posts)msrizzo
(796 posts)So tired of hearing the media repeat these falsehoods. Chuck Todd is on MSNBC right now hitting all the stupid notes that Krugman describes in this piece. After watching MSNBC all afternoon, Todd makes me change the channel.
Yul A
(94 posts)ailsagirl
(22,899 posts)RainDog
(28,784 posts)Kurovski
(34,655 posts)Last edited Sun Nov 4, 2012, 03:04 AM - Edit history (1)
Sound like you're full of shit? A certainty.
WillyT
(72,631 posts)99Forever
(14,524 posts)The rare unbought voice in the MSM.