[Mpls] Ethics of strib "Polls"

[Greg Abbott]

On Nov 6, 2005, at 2:33 PM, freealonzo at mn.rr.com wrote:

> I know it's tough when you open up your Sunday paper and you see that
> your candidate is 20 points down.  However I don't think you can blame
> the Strib.  I'm sure when they conducted the poll, they had no idea it
> would show a 20 point lead.  What should they have done with the
> story?  sit on it?

Doing a poll, and reporting the results on the Sunday before the  
election means that no one has any time to adjust their strategy to  
the new situation.

Doing a poll, and reporting on it the weekend **before** the last  
weekend, 9-10 days before the election, is OK.  The down ballot  
candidates would have time to adjust.  It provides virtually the same  
information to paper's readers -- for example, I doubt there's been  
much change in this year's mayoral race between Oct. 30 and Nov. 6.

But reporting on a poll like this, 48 hours before the election, just  
depresses turnout.

This year, I suspect it'll depress R.T.'s turnout, because a lot of  
his voters will think they're not needed.

Greg Abbott
Linden Hills