Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder I don't get CNN many times. They initially reported Ryan a winner among poll takers something like 48% to 44%, but then the poll on the front page of their website was something like 62% to 38% in favor of Biden. I understand it might be a different poll, but when there's such a disparity, why continue to report the first results without any other kind of background or exposition?Matter of fact, right now, with over 71,000 votes, it's still 62-38 Biden.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox The media desperately needs a horse race. When voters believe the election is running close to a tie, they tune in to their favorite TV stations, radio stations, and online news sources more frequently. Which translates into more viewers and more hits on web sites. Which commands more $$$ in advertising revenue. Even if either candidate had a comfortable lead by 5 to 10 points, we'd never know it from the bulk of the media outlets, including sites like HuffPost. Billions in ad revenue are generated during election season, and traffic is increased with close races. Who the hell knows what the actual truth is at this time. Nate Silver is usually a good source, but now that his FiveThirtyEight site is managed by the New York Times, I'm even questioning his data analysis. I would hope NYT would leave him alone. But when big bucks are to be made by having a close election race, even a perceived one, I'm not so certain anymore.
