TY - JOUR
T1 - Coverage of Public Opinion Polls
T2 - Journalists’ Perceptions and Readers’ Responses
AU - Appelman, Alyssa
AU - Schmierbach, Mike
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - This project examines news coverage of public opinion polls and explores whether journalists and readers are familiar with best practices in this domain. Study 1 tests the effects of related errors on readers’ perceptions, and Study 2 asks journalists to reflect upon this kind of coverage. Readers (N = 495) only noticed errors when they were very frequent, and many did not assess stories differently based on the presence of errors. Journalists (N = 51) acknowledged that this coverage often contains errors, and many identified individual and structural causes. Taken together, this suggests the need for additional training in polling and numeracy for journalists and audiences. Such efforts could improve news articles about public opinion polls, as well as readers’ ability to recognize and seek out stronger coverage.
AB - This project examines news coverage of public opinion polls and explores whether journalists and readers are familiar with best practices in this domain. Study 1 tests the effects of related errors on readers’ perceptions, and Study 2 asks journalists to reflect upon this kind of coverage. Readers (N = 495) only noticed errors when they were very frequent, and many did not assess stories differently based on the presence of errors. Journalists (N = 51) acknowledged that this coverage often contains errors, and many identified individual and structural causes. Taken together, this suggests the need for additional training in polling and numeracy for journalists and audiences. Such efforts could improve news articles about public opinion polls, as well as readers’ ability to recognize and seek out stronger coverage.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85129180332&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1080/17512786.2022.2058064
DO - 10.1080/17512786.2022.2058064
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85129180332
SN - 1751-2786
VL - 18
SP - 763
EP - 782
JO - Journalism Practice
JF - Journalism Practice
IS - 4
ER -