Commentary

Making The Press Pay: Trump Sues Gannett And Iowa Newspaper Over Poll

The Des Moines Register, a Gannett publication, has been hit with a lawsuit by incoming President Donald Trump for “brazen election interference,” stemming from a poll by Ann Selzer over a poll that put Kamala Harris way ahead of Trump in Iowa, Reuters reports. 

As it turns out, Trump comfortably won Iowa and enough of the rest of the country to be elected. The Selzer poll, which was published three days before the election, obviously didn’t affect the race.  

We haven’t seen the actual complaint, but it’s clear Trump was unhappy with the poll and the coverage it got. Reuters writes that the suit seeks “accountability” for the alleged interference.  

Assuming the case was filed, this should put fear into the hearts of publishers and editors everywhere. It raises this question: Can a publication face liability for publishing an inaccurate poll? 

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This isn’t a defamation suit, mind you: nobody was defamed. It’s possible that the media overplayed the poll, but it was such an anomaly that it made news by itself. What’s the harm, and what was the offense? 

You cannot be sued for defamation for publishing an inaccurate but non-defamatory story, especially if it concerns public figures. Do reporters make mistakes? Of course. As H.L. Mencken famously said, “journalism is not an exact science.”  

The same could be said about polling, apparently.  

Gannett, which was named in the suit, has the means to defend itself. Smaller publishers might not—they could get into trouble for publishing negative stories, whether accurate or inaccurate. 

This can be seen as a frivolous suit. But there is a bullying aspect to it. The news business should rise up and support Gannett and the Register. And absent defamation as the law defines it, nobody should settle such a case out of court. 

 

 

 

 

1 comment about "Making The Press Pay: Trump Sues Gannett And Iowa Newspaper Over Poll".
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  1. Tony Jarvis from Olympic Media Consultancy, December 23, 2024 at 12:54 p.m.

    Ray:  Unequivocally on point.  Polling is as much an art as a science.  As I have consistently  recommended on many occasions, it is prudent to double any margin of error provided (they are scientifically specious anyway!) even on the "better" polls to understand where the final results MIGHT occur. As virtual proof of the increasingly complex approaches needed for political polling and the volatility and bounce on any results as related to a final election outcomes,  Dr. J Ann Seltzer's last Iowa poll was clearly an outlier or aberration.  It happens and always will, even with a company like Selzer & Company, that has an enviable track record of "good" estimated results driven by their long established and industry acknowledged research quality. 
    The Global research industry and the Press do indeed need to join the fight on this scurrlous and frivolous lawsuit by this "odious cretin" (unofficially as described by her late Majestry the Queen!)   

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