The NZ Herald-Digi poll can kiss my arse
Ohhhhh, the latest Herald-Digi Poll is out proclaiming that National has 10 billion% support again, blah blah blah. The NZ Herald has become the most biased newsmedia outlet in NZ. 3 anti-Hone editorials in two weeks is unprecedented and their decision to appoint online mouthpiece for the Government David Farrar as their online political commentator makes the NZ Herald as fair balanced as Fox News. David polls on Friday, collates over the weekend so he can present the information to Caucus on the Tuesday, he has nothing to add other than massaged message points he self tests on the National Party Research Unit!
The bias from mainstream media has been unprecedented recently and their utter lack of balance must be challenged before the election.
Stuff.co.nz misquoted Hone Harawira claiming 'Hone celebrates Osama Bin Laden's life', when challenged on the misquote they edited their online version to 'Hone celebrates life'. (The Press Council will be reviewing my complaint July 1st)
Last month the NZ Herald appointed Government propagandist David Farrar as their weekly political columnist. It is unacceptable in the most ideological election we have seen in recent political history that the pillars of our mainstream media are devoid of left wing counter opinions.
The issue isn't who the NZ Herald appoints, that is their right as a free press, but in terms of balance in our largest daily Newspaper, it is as jaw dropping to appoint a propagandist like Farrar minus any comment from the other political side as it would be to appoint Kyle Chapman as the new Race Relations Conciliator or Paul Henry as the new head of the Broadcasting Complaints Authority.
Who the media ask to commentate for them is not the issue, but they must acknowledge they have a role to be balanced. Despite what the corporate media might like us to believe, 'the sound of one hand clapping' can't be a legitimate editorial position.
Here is why the Herald-Digi Poll can kiss my arse, it is so far off, it claimed that Len Brown and John Banks were 'neck and neck' - why don't any of you remember this?
Poll shock: It's neck and neck
Len Brown: 29.6 per cent
John Banks: 28.7 per cent
The race for the Super City mayoralty is going down to the wire - Manukau Mayor Len Brown and Auckland City Mayor John Banks are almost tied in the latest Herald-DigiPoll survey.
And remind me how that election turned out? Oh yeah, that's right, it was a FUCKING LANDSLIDE to Len Brown. These bullshit cheap brainfart polls are missing vast chunks of the electorate as the recession has made the poor more and more difficult to measure.
We don't know what the call back ratio is (it is supposed to be 6 times), we don't know if only landlines were used, were cell phones used (in a recession where the poor are avoiding debt collectors and can't afford land lines their opinions are simply not registered) and MOST importantly we are never shown the weighting. What is weighting? Each poll has to equate to the percentage make up of the population, so let's say there are 10% Maori, the Poll has to have 10% Maori, problem is that most of the time the Pollsters never get 10% Maori opinion, so what they do is they weight whatever opinions they do get from Maori to fill up the necessary 10%, now if you are only getting conservative opinion when you call during dinner time, then that is the opinion that will get magnified, the danger is these brainfarts become self fulfilling prophecy.
To paraphrase one researcher from Janet Hoek and Phillip Gendall's 'Public Opinion Polling: Supporter or Subverter of Democracy', attempts to correct biased samples by using age-gender weights is like embalming a corpse in the hope of its resurrection.
The only polls worth real examination are deliberative polls, but because they cost so much money to run we get these cheap brainfart polls.
The right wing political radar is off kilter and has led to the hubris within Caucus that they will win the election with an outright majority.
The Herald Digi-Poll is bullshit and should be shown the contempt it deserves.
posted by Bomber @ 8:46 am
4 comments
4 Comments:
Hey Bomber
Interesting point you bring up in regards to the Herald. Below is some correspondence I had with the paper recently.
Sir
I find it extraordinary that one media corporation, namely Time Warner has enough power not only to get millions in concessions from our government, but to be able to actually force a law change in our country. 1.4 million New Zealanders recently asked for a law change through referendum and were ignored. But one American corporation which exists only to maximise profit for its foreign owners requests a law change and our Prime Minister pushes through a new law in less than a day! This shows John Key's true colours, always profit before people just like in his days working on the Foreign Exchange Committee of the New York Federal Reserve Bank. Those criticizing the actors and CTU should remember that for centuries our ancestors have fought and sometimes sacrificed their lives fighting for the human rights we enjoy today. However small a particular right may be, to flippantly suggest that someone should give up that right to a foreign corporation is hugely disrespectful to those ancestors. Wake up New Zealand. Your government clearly views the profiteering demands of a foreign corporation as more important than those of the New Zealand people. We must be a laughing stock in Hollywood.
Reply from Kevin Hart, Letters Editor
Dear reader. John Key never worked for the Federal Reserve. If you wish your letter to be considered for publication, you might amend it so it is factually correct. Regards.
Kevin Hart.
NZ Herald.
My reply back to Kevin
Hi Kevin
Below taken from wiki and from John Key's own website. My understanding is that the New York Fed is the main branch of the United States Federal Reserve. (A privately owned run for profit central bank) I have amended the letter to reflect (see below). Hope that suits
regards
Mike
In 1995, he joined Merrill Lynch as head of Asian foreign exchange in Singapore. That same year he was promoted to Merrill's global head of foreign exchange, based in London, where he may have earned around US$2.25 million a year including bonuses, which is about NZ$5 million at 2001 exchange rates. Some co-workers called him "the smiling assassin" for maintaining his usual cheerfulness while sacking dozens (some say hundreds) of staff after heavy losses from the 1998 Russian financial crisis.[4][8] He was a member of the Foreign Exchange Committee of the New York Federal Reserve Bank from 1999 to 2001.[9]
Kevin’s reply back to me
Mike. The Federal Reserve is the US equivalent of our Reserve Bank. To repeat, John Key had had nothing to do with it. Regards.
Kevin Hart.
NZ Herald.
My reply back again to Kevin
Hi Kevin
Thank you for your reply. Being a journalist, your research skills are no doubt a good deal better than mine; so I'd be grateful if you could point me in the right direction in the hope I can get the correct information now and in the future? I'm trying to find a summary of John Key's work history prior to him becoming an MP in NZ. The links below are some of the sources I have used to gather my information. But they all state Key's involvement with the New York Federal Reserve, an organisation you're telling me that "John Key had had nothing to do with"
So I'm confused, as the sources I’ve listed would appear to be reliable, including an article from your own New Zealand Herald. I would really appreciate your help in finding the true facts regarding this matter, which I’m assuming you must get from a non-mainstream, non-widely regarded, perhaps even non-even heard of, secret journalist source?
thanks in advance and regards
Mike
Big list of links was provided here.
Received no further correspondence
cheers
Mike
Very interesting comment, Mike. Thanks for taking the trouble to leave it.
Mike,
You sure you're not Mike Williams the former Labour Party President who spend ages trying to did up dirt on John Key prior to the last election only to come up empty and look like a complete chump?
If not, you are doing a bang up job of mimicking him.
Haha absolutely positive I'm not Mr Williams Gosman. I'm not a member of or affiliated to any political party. Also, I didn't spend ages trying to dig up dirt on the PM, the information we're talking about appears on John Key's own website as well as the National Party website. I though it was common knowledge hence my surprise at the attitude taken by the Herald.
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