“After proving to be America’s most accurate national poll in the 2004, 2008 and 2012 presidential elections, preliminary results for 2016 show the IBD/TIPP poll has now been the most accurate in each of the last four election cycles,” said Investors Business Daily (IBD).
TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence (TIPP) and IBD collaborate in public polling. Their website shared the following words of praise about their polling with respect to the 2016 election.
“The gold standard going forward.” — The Hill
“IBD/TIPP tracking poll was the only major national poll in November to
give Trump the lead in a race including third-party candidates.” — USA Today
For some years, the Daily Business News on MHProNews has tackled the topic of mainstream as well as industry trade bias, ignorance, spin – or outright falsehood. For example, MHProNews has often cited the work of independent award-winning journalist Sharyl Attkisson, who encourages her readers and viewers to think critically. Attkisson follows the facts, evidence, and money. She weighs a matter based upon evidence, not opinion.
“Check Your Facts,” “Follow the Money” – Journalist Sharyl Attkisson, Fake News, MHVille Takeaways
MHProNews takes that a step further, and notes that one should be willing to accept facts across that left-right divide, with a ‘wheat and chaff’ approach. Keep what’s accurate and useful, reject what’s not.
With that backdrop, IBD’s editorial below says that the media needs “more than a Super Bowl ad” to fix its image.
The ad is by the Washington Post, and is a quality production. But at a time when uber-billionaire Jeff Bezos’ – founder of Amazon, and now into prefab housing – owned Washington Post is laying off staff, they reportedly spent some $5.25 million for an add that ran in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl, per TheSpun. All in, the Washington Examiner says that production and related costs could have driven the cost to around $10 million.
Here’s the WaPo “vanity” video.
Note that the individual points made by the WaPo video are valid ones. Freedom is served by news, but ONLY if that news is accurate and trust worthy.
With the table set, here’s what the IBD Editorial and related IBD/TIPP poll had to say, from this link here. We’ll wrap this up with some commentary and analysis further below.
— IBD Editorial —
While journalists are getting pink slips across the country, the Washington Post decided to dump a boatload of cash for a Super Bowl image ad that tried to portray the news media as national heroes. Here’s a better, and much cheaper, idea to restore the industry’s shattered reputation: Be less blatantly partisan.
In the 60-second ad, Tom Hanks intones about the importance of journalists against the backdrop of historic events. Thankfully, during these times, the ad says, “There’s someone to gather the facts. To bring you the story. No matter the cost. Because knowing empowers us. Knowing helps us decide. Knowing keeps us free.”
The problem with journalists today, however, is that they aren’t interested in gathering facts or empowering the public with knowledge. Instead, they are interested mainly in pushing their agenda — a basic failing of the profession brought into high relief over the past two years.
Media Bias Kills Trust
The latest IBD/TIPP Poll makes this abundantly clear. The poll asked several questions to gauge the public’s perception of the mainstream news media.
What did it find?
First, that fully half the country says its trust in the media decreased over the past two years. A tiny 8% say it’s increased.
That includes a plurality of independents (49%). Even among Republicans, who’ve long grown accustomed to media bias, 81% say their trust in the press has dropped over the past two years
Geographically, those in the Midwest and the South are mostly likely to say their trust in the press has declined (52% and 57%, respectively) since Trump took office. Men are far more likely than women (54% vs. 47%). And those with incomes over $75,000 (51% of home distrust the media more) more than lower-income households.
These findings alone should be alarming. After all, as any corporate executive knows, you can’t run a successful business when a vast and increasing share of your customer base doesn’t trust the product you are selling.
It gets worse.
Pushing An Agenda
The poll found that more than two-thirds of the public (69%) think the news media “is more concerned with advancing its points of view rather than reporting all the facts.” Only 29% of the public disagrees with that statement.
In other words, nearly seven out of 10 adults in the country think the Post ad’s blather about “gathering the facts” is bull.
That includes 72% of independents, 95% of Republicans, and — surprisingly enough — 43% of Democrats.
There’s more. Fifty-nine percent say that the press covers issues in a way “that seeks to delegitimize the views held by President Trump and his supporters.”
Sixty percent of independents and 93% of Republicans agree with that.
Prejudging Trump
Also, more than half (53%) say they agree that the media “prematurely declared President Trump guilty of collusion with Russia without sufficient evidence.”
On this, too, most independents (55%) agree. So do more than one in five (22%) of Democrats.
Is anyone in the mainstream press paying attention? Apparently not, since they seem to think that the only problem they have is too few image ads.
So, here’s a question for the folks at the Washington Post:
How does “knowing help us decide” when the press clearly isn’t helping the public “know,” but is instead trying to force decisions by spinning stories, massaging facts and pushing an agenda?
The Post would have done journalists — to say nothing of the public at large — a real service if, instead of blowing millions of dollars on a Super Bowl ad, they had put that money into dealing with media bias. They could start by teaching journalists not to be propagandists for the far left wing of Democratic Party.
— end of IBD Editorial —
There is no doubt that some in media are propagandists for other political groups, but the bias toward the left is widely perceived by polling such as this one by IBD-TIPP.
But our point goes beyond the political. For us, it is about providing a factual basis for manufactured housing industry professionals and investors to QUESTION the ‘powers that be’ that have so obviously failed our industry’s independents for many years.
With affordable housing in crisis, and with MHProNews and MHLivingNews having long touted the fact that manufactured homes are the most proven solution, how can the Omaha-Knoxville-Arlington axis look independents in the eye and say with a straight face that they have momentum? Momentum toward what? More consolidation of smaller firms by larger ones?
Instead of rationally discussing or debating the issues, MHI and their Omaha-Knoxville master have done all that they can to duck debate. That includes purportedly working behind-the-scenes to have MHProNews barred from the Louisville Show.
Midwest Manufactured Housing Federation Official Louisville Show Communique to MHProNews
- If the truth was on their side,
- if they could debunk with facts the concerns that MHProNews,
- the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR),
- NAMHCO,
- or others have raised, wouldn’t they have already done so?
Why are MHProNews articles often longer and packed with facts, quotes, data and third-party references?
Precisely to give readers more confidence in what is being presented. That’s also why we give the MHI and their dominant powers the opportunity to comment, clarify – or if they can, refute – what is presented here for professionals and investors.
That’s food for thought on national as well as industry politics and media. “We Provide, You Decide.” © ## (News, analysis, and commentary.)
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