AP Poll Numbers Cooked, As Usual; They Don’t Care, As Usual

You would think that the Associated Press would care that every time their periodic poll numbers are skewed to yield anti-Bush results, they get caught. But they don’t.

The latest:

The AP: Fun with Poll Numbers
Posted by Lisa Fabrizio on October 7, 2005 - 19:40.

The Associated Press is up to its old tricks again. In its latest doom and gloom piece, “Poll: Groups Unhappy with Bush Performance,” they report that the president’s approval rating dropped to 39% in the most recent AP/Ipsos poll. Add to that today’s CBS poll that has the number at 37% and Bush supporters might have reason to squirm…except that they don’t.

As is usual, these anti-Bush organizations under-poll Republicans while over-polling Democrats. The AP survey contained only 40% Republicans versus 48% Democrats, while the CBS boys tilted the playing field an amazing 43% to 57% in favor of the Dems.

As the NewsBusters entry notes, bias permeates not only the numbers but also the article text.

For AP, it’s mission accomplished. They know that those who don’t dig deeper will think Bush is in decline. Those like Newsbusters who yell “foul” will pierce the darkness a bit and get through to some, but not most.

News consumers cannot trust their media to compile and report even the most basic information honestly. This is why efforts by blogs and others to gather and report basic news need to be encouraged.