This was first posted on June 28, 2011. We have went back and checked the links and updated them where necessary. Other than that everything is substantially the same.
June 28, 2011
The reason we ask this question is that on Thursday, May 12, 2011 they ran an article on the front page, below the fold, titled “Obama approval hits 60 percent after bin Laden killing”
The article was an AP piece by Liz Sidoti and Jennifer Agiesta. The (Macon) Telegraph and AP had to know the article and the poll was what reasonable people who follow the news would consider dishonest.This is not the first time AP and The (Macon) Telegraph have done this.
If we go back to Thursday, December 17, 2009, we find on page 2A an article by Liz Sidoti of the AP titled “Poll: Gains for Obama, not for his Afghan plans.”
We are told in the article that “The latest Associated Press-GfK poll shows the president’s marks for handling the eight-year-old war have jumped by double digits -– more than half now approve – since he capped a three-month strategy review by announcing a big troop increase.”
The (Macon) Telegraph did not print the link to the poll, however the AP web site did. In an attempt to find out what “more than half” meant, we tried the link provided for the article. We tried it every day for 21 days. Each day we got the Home page of the AP-GfK web site, however for the specific poll we got “Sorry, ‘AP-GfK poll’ does not exist or is not available.” You would think that the staff of The (Macon) Telegraph had to know this and they probably did.They also had to know the material they used on May 12, 2011 was not true.
The day before The (Macon) Telegraph ran the AP article, the article and the poll (AP-GfK poll) was all over the air waves and cable. The gist of the coverage was about how the poll was loaded and the dishonesty of AP.
On May 11, 2011 at 8:55 AM, Jim Geraghty of the National Review told us how “Latest AP Poll Sample Skews to Democrats by 17 Points"
That night, May 11, on Fox News Channel’s The Factor with O’Reilly, Dick Morris, (former pollster and political adviser to Bill Clinton) and O’Reilly covered both the poll and the article extensively.
Morris said the sample was “a totally a screwed up sample, I mean this poll was hogwash.”
O’Reilly points out that “if the associated press is going to cover the election by skewing what is happening that is a major story.” He was talking about AP’s deception.
O’Reilly and Morris probably put the truth in more homes in middle Georgia than The Telegraph reaches in a week, however that does not excuse what reasonable people could consider unethical and dishonest conduct by the staff of The (Macon) Telegraph and AP.
O’Reilly also posed the following question. “Doesn’t it trouble you that the Associated Press historically, (which) we depend on that, is now looks like it’s promoting a left wing agenda, a democratic agenda.” Of course Morris agreed.
It was pointed out that AP’s explanation of the poll sample was “BS”. They site the fact that Rasmussen who is described “as the best in the business” had Obama up “5 points”. In fact Dick Morris wrote an article on 05/11/2011-titled “Disregard the AP Poll” Again it is pointed out that “This AP poll – with its 2:1 Democratic edge – is utter hogwash.”
He goes on with: “Even by the standards of AP’s previous polls, this sample doesn’t standup. It is vastly more Democratic than any of the organization’s recent polls:”
Then on May 18, 2011 in a reply to a letter from Mr. Merle Hazard of Macon the editors admit that according to a Rear Clear Politics poll “averages of 12 polls taken during about the same period, President Obama had an average approval rating of 51.7.” However they were telling the reader that it was 60% They went on to admit the AP-GfK poll was skewed toward “Democrat or leaning Democrat”
In spite of all the evidence that the AP article and AP-GfK poll was misleading, The (Macon) Telegraph continued to push the “60 percent” on News Talk Central the morning of May 12th.
Burgamy (the ex-banker) did his job well. A token protest to indicate there may be something wrong. Then there was some mention of the National Review article followed by some hilarious comparison to some mystical off-the-wall poll on a Ford Taurus.
In response Richardson was reduced to stuttering in his attempt to defend the indefensible. That had to be a first!
At no time did anyone inform the public that because of the skewed sample the so-called poll was deceptive! Of course not!
In his book “Polling and the Public – What Every Citizen Should Know” Herbert Asher tells us that “More worrisome is the huge growth in the use of pseudo polls – nonscientific and often biased polls conducted by private and public groups through a variety of mechanisms, including the print and electronic media and the internet, (emphasis added) and often confused with legitimate public opinion polling.”
Asher goes on to inform the reader that “Thus the media generate(s) much of the public opinion data that in turn become the subject matter for the news stories that they present. For some observers, this situation raises questions about a conflict of interest – meaning that the definition of what is news worthy may be unduly influenced by media-sponsored polls on particular topics.”
Back in July 2010, we e-mailed President and Publisher George McCanless of The (Macon) Telegraph with some of our concerns about the so-called news coverage by The (Macon) Telegraph and their commitment to community service. At the time they had omitted any meaningful coverage about Congressman Rangel (D-NY), other democrats and their political troubles.
In his reply, in a very condescending manner he advised that “our commitment is to THIS community, and I am very comfortable” that we have demonstrated this.
McCanless then went on to inform us that “Mr. Rangel has been charged with ethics violations…” and that “he hasn’t been convicted of anything ---yet.” However he assured us that “When that happens I feel sure we will provide adequate coverage…”
McCanless’ e-mail indicated that he would decide what news the subscriber gets and when they get it.
We might note that this is an entirely different standard than the one that was applied to House Majority leader Tom Delay (R-TX) and Representative Mark Foley (R-Fla.) among others.
Folks the 2012 election will probably be the most important election for the future of this great country of any election held in the last 150 years. To vote the people of middle Georgia need honest and correct information. The “60 percent” story (among other things) presented to the people as a news story by The (Macon) Telegraph on May 12, 2011, which we can only consider a flimflam, convinces us we are not going to get the truth from The (Macon) Telegraph. We feel that what we can only describe as bigotry by some of the staff will prevent any useful coverage of this administration.
The late Ron Woodgeard, former editorial page editor of The (Macon) Telegraph first called attention to this bigotry in his “A not-so-fond farewell”. (The (Macon) Telegraph Sunday, January 21, 2001.)
Ron tells us how his “liberal colleagues” would label people in order to put them “in a defensive posture.” He points out that this was “often calculated by the accuser”. The reason for this is: “It’s intended to place you on the defensive, to generate doubt and divert the discussion from the issue at hand."
We ask, is this the type of people you want to depend on for your news and information at such a crucial time in the history of this great country?
If anyone can point out anything factually untrue in what we have presented, please let us know and we will correct it. Because we truly believe that:
“According to American principle and practice the public is the ruler of the State, and in order to rule rightly it should be informed correctly.”
Quote from William Randolph Hearst, New York Journal-American, November 11, 1954.
We could care less about the bigotry and the politics of the staff at The (Macon) Telegraph until such time as they let it interfere with the News. If they are going to present their self as a Newspaper, they have a moral obligation to be honest.
The people of middle Georgia need a newspaper; however a newspaper the people feel they cannot trust is worse than no paper at all!
We intend to point out where, when and how we feel The (Macon) Telegraph is being misleading! There will be times when we reach into the past for things they have done to demonstrate why we feel as we do. It is our opinion they have a long record of this. From time to time there will be handouts such as this; however we will update our blog daily.
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We can be reached by e-mail at wetrack@windstream.net or by phone at 1-478-304-8162.
The (Macon) Telegraph can be reached at:
George McCanless President and Publisher Phone 744-4290: gmccanless@macon.com
Sherrie Marshall Executive Editor; Phone 744-4340; smarshall@macon.com
Charles E. Richardson- Editorial Page Editor; Phone 7444342; crichardson@macon.com
Kenny Burgamy (ex-banker) Visiting Member; kenneyb@macon.com
Let the AP and The (Macon) Telegraph know how you feel.
According to their web site (http://ap.org/) AP has two offices in the state of Georgia.
Savannah Atlanta
P.O. Box 9115 Centennial Tower
Savannah GA 31412-9115 101 Marietta St. NW, Suite 2450
(912) 525-0770 Atlanta, GA.30303-2720
(912) 525-0771 Fax (404) 522-8971
524-4639 Fax/News
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