Michelangelo SignorileNov 10, 2022

This is a piece from the New Yorker just before the election, last week, that is an example of the disservice many political reporters do to our political culture.

By Benjamin Wallace-Wells, it claims to tell us why GOP "insiders" believe there will be a "blowout."

Show threadMichelangelo SignorileNov 10, 2022
But he doesn't quote any of these GOP consultants and pollsters by name. Not one. He says he spoke with Democratic consultants to "check" the GOP ones -- but they aren't quoted by name either.
Show threadMichelangelo SignorileNov 10, 2022

From the piece:

"'There isn’t a single private poll in America that has Herschel Walker anything but ahead,” the Republican consultant told me. 'Not one.'"

Show threadMichelangelo SignorileNov 10, 2022

it's a lot more like that:

"The consensus...of G.O.P. pollsters & operatives I spoke to this week is that in the Senate races that are thought to be competitive, Republican candidates are heading for a clean sweep:..Oz will beat Fetterman in PA, and not just by a point or two"

Show threadMichelangelo SignorileNov 10, 2022

What is the point of pieces like this? Why do we need to know what Republican strategists privately claim -- but won't say on the record -- about the election?

Shouldn't the journalist then refute or confirm what they're saying -- with data, all of which was available?

Show threadMichelangelo SignorileNov 10, 2022
No, just going to a Democratic strategist -- who also is unnamed -- is not enough of the "check" on what these hucksters are saying. There was enough available data, including early vote, to show evidence of how the election would turn out.
LaurieNov 10, 2022
Show threadMichelangelo Signorile

Wallace-Wells was used, willingly, to push a narrative useful to the GOP. He would likely say, no, I was just trying to explain "why" they believe this. But it's irresponsible to publish this kind of piece without any critical analysis. @[email protected]

https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-political-scene/why-republican-insiders-think-the-gop-is-poised-for-a-blowout

Why Republican Insiders Think the G.O.P. Is Poised for a Blowout

Benjamin Wallace-Wells on Republican predictions for midterm-election victories in the House and Senate, including Herschel Walker in Georgia and Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania.

The New Yorker
Nov 10, 2022 at 3:28pmWeb
Show threadJ. Stephen Clark 🏳️‍🌈Nov 10, 2022

@msignorile yes, and more generally, far too many poltiical reporters are acting like glorified sports reporters in focusing on “horse race” coverage to the near-exclusion of everything else.

I’ve decried for years the increasing treatment of politics as a sport both by the media and the public. Self-governance isn’t a game with competing teams.

Show threadBholtenNov 10, 2022
@msignorile And they will continue to do it. Media is all about making money now. It’s not a public utility like water or electricity. Also there are literally no consequences for all the pundits who got things so terribly wrong. They get right back to their “hot takes” and keep going.
Show threadJB EmmonsNov 10, 2022

@msignorile Yeah, given the environment where horse-race polling IS considered news, there's a case to be made that on-the-record disputing of those polls is equally newsworthy. But any decent reporter should realize that OFF-the-record refuting of polls, w/o more, is mere narrative-setting.

I wonder whether this reporter was mostly trying to prepare their own post-election narrative (i.e. 'I called this, other journalists missed it')