Poll Position

Last week, we looked at presidential polls in several MC101 classes. Your Humble Blogger briefly discussed the Los Angeles Times-USC poll, which unlike nearly every other poll (including the Fox News Poll!) predicted a Trump victory. So how did so many other polling agencies get the result wrong and this poll got it right? NPR reports.

Questions...

•Do election polls have news value? If you were an editor or news producer, would you do stories about the latest election polls? Why or why not?

•Do polls about social issues (like support for the death penalty or regulating firearms or same-sex marriage) have any news value? Why or why not?

•In your estimation, do pre-election polls make an impact on voting in any way?

•The Los Angeles Times endorsed Hillary Clinton on their editorial page, yet their poll predicted a Trump victory? What, if anything, does this say about the newspaper?