US News Reporting On Glitches

US News & World Report has an item on recent polling of the presidential race:

“One intriguing result from Sunday’s Washington Post/ABC poll (which showed Barack Obama maintaining a narrow, 4 percent lead among likely voters) was the Democratic candidate’s vault over John McCain on the question of leadership.”

Not satisfied to simply publish the results of the poll, US News commenced to spinning vigorously. The article carried the headline: “Obama Moves Past McCain on Leadership-A Polling Glitch or Genuine Trend”

This is the sort of bias that Democrats face throughout the Conventional Media world. When they trail in the polls, the press eagerly report the collapse of the Party. When they lead, it is the result of a “glitch.”

US News characterizes the shift in leadership preference as “dramatic.” But their own reporting seems to imply that it was a steady trend over time:

“In March, those surveyed chose McCain as the stronger leader by a 53-40 margin. In June, McCain had a 47-44 lead. But in the August poll, Obama beats McCain by five points, 49-44. That is an 18-point switch in four months.”

Four months is a good stretch, and plenty of time to observe significant changes in voter attitudes. But US News implies that the shift came too quickly and is thus suspect. And this implication is pushed even though other polls affirm the results seen in the WaPo/ABC poll.

This is the sort of dishonesty in journalism that we’re up against, folks.

Advertisement: