Steve McAlexander on Mon, 28 Jan 2002 16:13:02 +0100 (CET) |
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[Nettime-bold] FW: What's the 'Mobocracy'? |
How media's obsession with polling twists the news, alters elections The media are lying to you and they're using "public opinion" to keep you misinformed. Welcome to the world of "Mobocracy" -- a place where opinion polls, wielded by a cynical, ideologically driven press, distort the news and change opinion. It's a place where the fleeting whims of a largely ignorant populace are used to supplant thoughtful, reasonable debate, and where, all too often, pollsters and the art they practice are shrouded behind a cloudy curtain of clever wording, data manipulation, and hidden agendas. This is "Mobocracy." Never before in the history of our nation have public opinion polls played such a central role in the way policy is conceived, molded, and enacted. And at no time has there been a more dangerous and misleading abuse of public opinion than now. In "Mobocracy", Matthew Robinson uncovers how the media's obsession with polling drives public policy, subverts elections, and decides what we see on the evening news. He reveals how our country's electoral process has been corrupted by the mob rule of an ill-informed electorate whose opinions are trumpeted at the expense of thoughtful reporting. Through meticulous research and insightful interviews, this book exposes how the questionable science of polls can be manipulated, how poll-driven news leads to shallow coverage, and how many of our elected officials have come to serve poll results more than they serve their constituents. You will discover the underhanded ways that polls -- not the Constitution or the law -- drove the Clinton impeachment process, the 2000 presidential election, the confirmation hearings of government officials, and other critical events. You will find how coverage of many of the most divisive issues, such as abortion, gun control, and health care, is manipulated by polling that too often seeks to further an agenda, not measure opinion. And you will learn how to see through these ruses in the future. http://www.shopnetdaily.com/store/item.asp?ITEM_ID=374 _______________________________________________ Nettime-bold mailing list Nettime-bold@nettime.org http://amsterdam.nettime.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nettime-bold