Robopolls
ROBOPOLLS....Carl Bialik at the Wall Street Journal writes about automated polling today. The best known robo-pollster, SurveyUSA, has a track record as good or better than any traditional polling outfit, but apparently founder Jay Leve still can't get any respect:
After conducting such polls for 16 years, he still finds himself defending them. That's because, by policy, the national news divisions of CBS, NBC and ABC won't air results from automated polls, even as many of their local affiliates sponsor and air SurveyUSA polls.This. Is. Nuts. If national publications insist on reporting only their own poll results, that's one thing. It's a stupid, antediluvian practice, but at least it makes a rough kind of sense. But if they're willing to refer to other polls at all, there's no excuse for excluding robopolls, many of which have a remarkable record of accuracy. Why oh why can't we have a better press corps?The Associated Press, the New York Times and the political publication the Hotline also exclude them.