re. Free Press story Selinger the best to lead: poll
I find this odd. Do other newspapers commission their own polls and construct front page stories out of the results? I don't remember the Freep doing this during the last leadership race for the Conservatives, though granted, in this case the leader automatically becomes Premier, so it may deserve a little extra attention. However, it still seems like a case of the media creating the news rather than covering it.
Further, there appears to be some spinning going on with the piece. If one were to glance at the headline and first few sentences (as I often do) they might get the impression that Manitobans choose Selinger over all potential premiers including the leaders of the opposition parties. The subtitle, for instance, includes the statement: "Who NDP supporters, non-supporters are backing". Look, non-supporters are not backing Selinger. They are simply choosing the lesser of two evils.
Further, most people are not choosing anyone. As Wofrom (presumably this Wolfrom ?) points out in the comments of the story: From what I can see of the numbers, even among NDP supporters, Selinger comes second to "None of the above". This is hardly an overwhelming result for Selinger, and declaring him the "Peoples choice" seems premature, and smells a little bit like booster juice.
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- curtis
- cotton
Wednesday 30 September 2009
Selinger Poll
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5 comments:
Yes, THAT Wolfrom. :)
Cherenkov,
As you point out, the Freaky-Freep poll is little more than baseless boosterism for the establishment candidate. A corporate statement that is designed to (falsely?) conjure up support and endorsements for the 'known' NDP candidate who will presumably stick to the Doer fiscal status-quo. As such, I have re-lined my hamsters cage with the pages of the story so it may feel at home among the crap & urine that will cover it in the next the next 3 days.
Poll's like this prove our MSM is more interested in manufacturing and driving the news than reporting on more substantive issues (platforms anyone?). Pity... we deserve better.
It's a bit unfair to say that "none of the above" is running ahead of Selinger (or even Ashton or Swan). The actual poll results distinguish between "none of these" (8%) and "don't know/won't say" (the remaining 41%). So Selinger is second to "don't know", but "none of the above" is less popular than Swan (though it still comes ahead of John Boehm).
Still, the large number of "don't knows", even among NDP supporters, is not a huge vote of confidence in Selinger.
More than that, I have a beef with the FP referring to him several times as the best choice for PREMIER when the poll itself is clearly about the NDP LEADERSHIP. There is an important difference in terms of the impression that one gets from reading the story.
C, media outlets been commissioning their own polls for decades. This is the norm, not the exception.
Respectable polling firms occasionally conduct political polls on their own, but it's an expensive proposition. Like any business, they like to get to paid for their work.
bart
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