In an article in Business Insider by John Dorman called “Ex-Fox News editor Chris Stirewalt says network viewers would’ve been more prepared for a Trump loss in 2020 if they’d been given ‘a more accurate’ view of the race: book,” the title of the piece tells the reader what happens when pseudo news networks do not shoot straight with its viewers. The same can happen on the more progressive sources, which is ample reason why we should focus on getting our news from more reputable sources.
Here is the gist of the article, with a link available below. Let’s start with summation at the beginning:
- “Chris Stirewalt in his forthcoming book wrote of coverage lapses he noticed during his time at Fox News.
- In the book, “Broken News,” Stirewalt was critical of how the 2020 election was covered by the network.
- Stirewalt was part of Fox’s decision desk, which in 2020 called Arizona for Biden before other major news outlets.
Former Fox News political editor Chris Stirewalt in his forthcoming book said viewers would have been more prepared for former President Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 presidential election had they been given a ‘more accurate’ assessment of the race through the network’s coverage.
In the book, ‘Broken News: Why the Media Rage Machine Divides America and How to Fight Back,’ Stirewalt — who was fired from Fox in January 2021 — said that over his 11 years at the network, he increasingly saw coverage that didn’t fully capture what viewers needed to hear.
Stirewalt said that such coverage became commonplace during Trump’s White House tenure, and pointed to the ‘rage’ that he encountered after the Fox News decision desk called the pivotal state of Arizona for now-President Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
‘Amid the geyser of anger in the wake of the Arizona call, Senator Kevin Cramer, Republican of North Dakota, called for my firing and accused me of a cover-up,’ Stirewalt wrote.
He continued: ‘Covering up what, exactly? We didn’t have any ballots to count and we didn’t have any electoral votes to award. Had viewers been given a more accurate understanding of the race over time, Trump’s loss would have been seen as a likely outcome. Instead of understanding his narrow win in 2016 as the shocking upset that it was, viewers were told to assume that polls don’t apply (unless they were good for Trump) and that forecasters like me were going to be wrong again.'”
One of the misconceptions that is played upon by news networks is polls are not accurate citing what happened in 2016. Of course, polls are only a prediction, so we must start from that premise. Yet, what too many fail to do is look only at the median likelihood and not the range of what could happen. Using the 2016 election as an example, Hillary Clinton led Donald Trump in the polls ten days before with a full standard deviation of outcomes showing she was likely to win.
After the infamous James Comey announcement about possible emails on Clinton’s aide computer at home which was also used by the aide’s husband who resigned his seat for sexual misconduct, the polls’ lead shrank so that the median expectation was still in Clinton’s favor, but a Trump win was now easily within one standard deviation meaning it could happen. All it took was to get a solid number of Clinton voters to stay home or vote for Jill Stein of the Green Party.
I was not surprised by the Trump win in 2016 nor was I surprised by his loss in 2020. I was disappointed in the former and quite relieved in the latter. I was also not surprised by Trump making a stink about the election results as he had been preparing to do so for at least six months hiring so many attorneys and belittling the mail-in process, while hobbling the mail governance. I wrote a post about this in September 2020 and Senator Bernie Sanders told talk show viewers with eerie accuracy what Trump would do on election night a month before it happened. What has consistently surprised me is sycophants who do not have the spine to tell the former president repeatedly and loudly he lost so get over it.
Our country was divided before the 2016 election, but is now more so because of the last seven years of Donald Trump as a candidate, president and former president. His greatest skill is marketing getting people to fear the other and think he is the solution. So, he took advantage of this divide and pitted folks against each other, which he does as a manager as well. This is why this strategy works in marketing, but is a horrible management approach. This was the conclusion of business analysts who covered the Trump organization well before 2016 – great marketer, poor manager.
News networks must remember that first word and give us the truth. And, when they offer opinion, I would prefer it to be broadcast in a banner below the talking head – the above is the opinion of the speaker and it should not be considered as news. This should occur whether the network is Fox News, MSNBC or Sinclair Broadcasting who requires its many local TV news stations to air the same opinion at the end of each show. And, if you get your news from a QAnon, InfoWars, or social media, stop. These are not news sources. The first two are propaganda and the latter is opinion
What I have shared with Congresspeople, Senators, and pseudo news people dozens of times is you owe us the truth. Readers and watchers believe what you say, so you need to be the best steward of that trust as possible. When I see these folks lie on purpose, it is very frustrating as they know they are lying and choose to do so anyway. That is Machiavellian. It matters not if the liar is a Democrat, Republican, Independent, Libertarian or Green Party candidate. What is even worse is when they know you know they are lying. That is just inane.
musingsofanoldfart 
What has consistently surprised me is sycophants who do not have the spine … IMO, it’s not that they don’t have the spine, but rather they spin things his way because they know what HE can do for THEM if they lick his … bu … er … shoes.
Nan, it probably is varying degrees of both. Some are just scared of the hounds being released on them, while some see opportunity to benefit by some of the kissing of various parts you mentioned. Keith
Note to Readers: I remember back in 2012 when guest expert Karl Rove had a meltdown on air when the network called the election for Obama over Romney. He just knew Romney was going to win as did others. He did not.
It has always been a facet of elections that the folk who had voted for the losing party or candidate will lament the result and predict woe and gloom, we have all succumbed (And delighting when the chance comes to say ‘Told you so).
These days in this conspiracy drenched fashion of sections of the public deluding themselves into believing ‘they know something’ others don’t; a sections of the lamentations have turned to cries of ‘foul’. As with Corbyn’s supporters in the UK 2019 defeat.
Of course this was as nothing in comparison to the USA. There is no doubt a very unhealthy current on both sides of the divide in varying issues to not believe the facts. This seems to have its roots in the assassination of JFK and then 9/11, to the extent that the most ludicrous statements now ‘hold water’. Some of the statements issuing from the extreme of The Republican wing would have, in days gone by have condemned the speaker to ostracization by the majority.
Sad and dangerous times. An irony being that those on the US version of the Left who for years have lived and breathed JFK and 9/11 tales made the whole theme respectable and thus the Right adopted it and made it a vote winner.
Roger, well said. Here in the states, part of the strategy of Republicans is to demean the institutions of government. The mindset is if they are bad, then everything is bad allowing rich people to keep more of their money. This is a key reason for the attacks on the IRS – fewer audits means the rich can get away with fraudulent or aggressive deductions.
As Michael Lewis noted in his well-researched and written book “The Fifth Risk,” the Deep State are the folks who know what they are talking about and who remember their oath. Keith
Thank you Keith.
You point the flaws in the republican stance, which none of its grass roots folk seem to understand.
Fifth State is a book I have read many summaries of and keep meaning to read.
There have been many irresponsible statements made by politicians, that is part of the game. One of the worst for its long term effects solidifying an ill-considered antipathy was by Reagan:
“The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help. ”
Irrespective of the context and the reasoning by the words, most people would take them in their literal and thus lose further confidence in the apparatus of the state and yet expect the state to still function for them, as if by magic.
Whereas I tend to a stronger state, this in itself has dangers.
Thus a balance needs to be maintained.
The simplistic ideas of both sides of the argument simply do not work in the long run.
The reprehensible activities of the current front runners of the Republican party and MAGA have certain peculiar similarities with Mao Zedong’s cultural revolution: Attack the infrastructure, anyone of independent thought, anyone who adheres to the basic established ways, disrupt, disrupt and replace with ill-thought or spontaneous schemes.
History loves its ironies.
Thanks Roger. What Reagan said was a funny line, but it did paint a picture that all is bad. It is not. Government agencies are imperfect and must routinely be monitored for the efficacy. If they are doing the wrong things, the mission needs to be redefined or the agency needs to be changed. What we must guard against most are bureaucracy and mission creep.
But, some funders also don’t like the mission and want it changed. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was hobbled by Donald Trump using Mick Mulvaney as his hobbler. Why? It was too successful in discovering and fining banks, credit card companies and loan companies for aggressive and fraudulent marketing practices. Bank of America, American Express, Wells Fargo, et al received heavy fines for their activities. They did not like that, so they pushed on politicians to weaken the focus.
Keith