The Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin just said (on Threads) that last night's results show that 90% of political reporting is garbage.
That's because 90% of "coverage" is speculation and opinion. An email from the NYT "The Tilt" assured me that it was a good night for Democrats but that doesn't mean anything for 2024.
Rubbish.
Elections tell us how voters feel. Polls do not and pundits do not.
You all know my theory: Because of our current information disruption, and because news exists in a click-driven world, and because sensational opinions get more clicks than boring facts, the facts are lost in a firehose of opinions and speculation.
This, in turn, creates a misinformation-panic cycle, that heightens authoritarian impulses in people not prone to authoritarian thinking, thus endangering democracy.
@Teri_Kanefield For all the hand-wringing folks did in advance of the election, the *voters* turned out in sufficient numbers to make a difference.
Next year Pennsylvania, Arizona and Nevada will have reproductive rights on the ballot to drive turnout. That there is some key strategic planning on the part of advocates.
Just make it safe for me to get back on my phone.
That’s our collective demand these days.
We don’t seem to care about much else or who has to pay so long as it’s not us.
@Teri_Kanefield
So, so true
As long as news sites require clicks, every election will be framed as neck and neck. Every nutcase will be profiled as a rising star.
On point.
True indeed. The question is how do we break this cycle...
@daphlawless @5klp471 @Teri_Kanefield
"Longwell also said some voters in her groups suggested they weren't sure they would vote if Biden is the nominee, but they also haven't grasped that Trump is the likely nominee on the Republican side.
"When you tell them, What if it's Trump again, they're like, ‘Oh yeah, no, no, no—I'm all in,’" Longwell said."
It's not going to be a popularity contest. It'll be a choice between immensely competent Biden vs. fascistic Trump. Most voters are not stupid.
Earlier this fall, President Joe Biden's reelection campaign poured millions of early advertising dollars into a handful of swing states in what seemed like a smart effort to gain an early edge in the 2024 presidential race. The combination of TV and...
Chait is a masterful artist in the rarefied field of telling us that he knows nothing, that he wouldn't tell us anything even if he did, and that therefore, we shouldn't know anything either.
It's quite the useful little mechanism for the authoritarians, though I'm still not entirely convinced that he's doing it on purpose.
Just another opportunity to tell our networks that Chait and his bothsiderism and vibes spouting colleagues are full of sh*t as data experts like Tom Bonier and Simon Rosenberg are happy to demonstrate on a regular basis, for example:
Another Big Night - 2023 Has Been A Very Good Year for Democrats
https://www.hopiumchronicles.com/p/another-big-night-2023-has-been-a
I unsubscribed to any news source years ago that included opinion/editorial content in their paid offerings--fuck that. I can look ANYWHERE ONLINE for opinions. Actual journalism is harder and harder to come by when it comes to elections.
From what I remember Jennifer Rubin is quite the expert on writing garbage.
<<sigh>> meanwhile, here in Mississippi...
@Teri_Kanefield Polling used to be fairly accurate and the MOE was driven by reality.
Now they have instances of media bullshit spreading like wildfires. I kept shaking my head when the words "red wave" became viral a few years ago. The wave was in reality not even a ripple, they got slammed.
People used to answer the phone then take time to answer the political survey. Now there is so much spam things have changed and phones are not what they were.
It is hard for pollsters to get the weighted demographics they need now in the variety that matter.
@Teri_Kanefield It didn't even take 24h for Chuck Todd over on NBC to post an article which was basically "Democrats did great last night, here's why its bad for Joe Biden"
The constant desire for business as usual horse race elections is indeed a danger to our democracy.
In the end, it's how voters truly feel, and that is what's reflected in #elections.
Meanwhile, ongoing public opinion is another measure of how voters feel, and that is what's reflected in #polls.
Here, #media is failing spectacularly, as it's the one shaping public opinion as well as analyzing and reporting polls.
Global media has lost its mind, will, and interest in covering the truth.
The mainstream media has departed from the original mission of reporting the news and is now in the business of sculpting public opinion so as to create maximum controversy to generate clicks. Perhaps they think this is good for their bottom line. It certainly feeds their egos. It is getting very tiresome.
Also, political 'reporters' never suffer any repercussions for being wrong. I don't remember the last time a political reporter was asked about past predictions.
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