How America's Accurate Election Polls Were Covered Up
5 hours ago
- #media_bias
- #election_polls
- #data_journalism
- Real Clear Politics National Average was denounced by the New York Times and removed from Wikipedia before the election for alleged Republican bias, despite its historical accuracy.
- Wikipedia editors removed RCP from its election polling page on October 11th, claiming it had a 'strong Republican bias,' but reinstated it after the election when RCP proved accurate again.
- Mainstream poll aggregators like those from the New York Times and Washington Post use weighting models that often downgrade partisan or right-leaning polls, which have been more accurate in recent Trump elections.
- The New York Times criticized RCP for not weighting polls, accusing it of skewing data, while itself using opaque weighting formulas that favor certain pollsters based on criteria like 'professionalism.'
- In 2020, a Washington Post poll showing Biden leading by 17 points in Wisconsin significantly distorted national averages, highlighting issues with poll honesty and media manipulation.
- The article suggests polling failures are not a mystery but result from lying, censorship, and manipulation, with mainstream media outlets ignoring accurate polls that favor Trump.
- Wikipedia's removal of RCP reflects broader internet biases where 'authority' relies on corporate recognition, making accurate but non-mainstream information harder to find.
- The election outcome, which did not rely on elite judgments but mass voting, was cathartic for some, exposing flaws in data journalism and media narratives.