The media and polls: Are we doing a bad job?
This week, Ipsos Reid executives Darrell Bricker, CEO, and John Wright, senior VP, penned an open letter to journalists demanding they do a better job reporting polls during election time.
This week, Ipsos Reid executives Darrell Bricker, CEO, and John Wright, senior VP, penned an open letter to journalists demanding they do a better job reporting polls during election time.
"Some marginal pollsters count on your ignorance and hunger to make the news to peddle an inferior product. Others are using your coverage to "prove" that their untried methodology is the way forward for market research in Canada," they write, "Journalists are no mere dupes in this process. We've also seen a disturbing trend of late in which questionable polls find their way into an outlet’s coverage because they appear to match an editorial line, or present a counter-intuitive perspective."
And that's just a taste. The two also say the whole process distorts democracy, confuses voters, and ruins the idea of unbiased polls. Bricker and Wright are clear that they don't want media polls banned during election. But they do want journalists to follow six rules when it comes to polling, which you can read here.
In the day since the letter was released, other pollsters and media have picked up on the fiery conversation.
The Toronto Star centered its Daily Exchange feature around the question "Does the media put too much stock in polls?", getting Jeffrey Ferrier, former communications director for the Ontario NDP and Erika Mozes, former senior adviser to George Smitherman and Gerard Kennedy to face off.
TVO's Daniel Kitts also posted on The Agenda's blog about the debate, asking other pollsters what they thought of Ipsos Reid's missive. Some agreed they shared similar frustrations, but, perhaps needless to say, took issue with Bricker and Wright's implication that Ipsos Reid's methods were best.
What do you think? Is media failing when it comes to reporting on election polls?
