Presidential Polls Are Useless. Here’s Why
Election-year media builds entire news cycles around a glut of polls that mislead and misinform us. What could they be doing to better guide us to November?
Allison Hantschel
contributor
Allison Hantschel publishes the 13-year-old journalism and politics blog First Draft and is the author and editor of five books, including IT DOESN'T END WITH US, the story of the groundbreaking college newspaper The Daily Cardinal. Her work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and many other publications. Follow her on Twitter: @Athenae
Bad Journalism Is Giving Life to the “Fetal Personhood” Lie
For years, reproductive-justice activists have been warning that the GOP’s “fetal personhood” bills would endanger access to birth control and fertility treatment—especially IVF. Why hasn't the media taken them to task?
Media Can’t Stop Stoking Outrage
Taking their cues from the GOP, the mainstream press has devoted their front page coverage to “but her emails”-level scandals, like President Biden’s age and DA Fani Willis’s private life. What will this mean come November?
Don’t Confuse Fake Newspapers With Local Journalism
With so many local newspapers and reporters’ jobs gone, U.S. towns are suffering a profound information crisis. Which is exactly what Republicans want.
Does Legacy Media Want a Repeat of Election 2016?
Even after January 6th, much of the mainstream press still fails to take seriously the violent, fascistic threats of multiply indicted former president Trump, the GOP frontrunner of the 2024 presidential race.
Jezebel’s Closure Is More Than Just a Media Story
Since its inception, Jezebel offered a corrective to white male-centered media. With Election 2024 looming, the loss of yet another feminist magazine—killed off by venture capital—we’re left with even fewer outlets where women’s political issues are prioritized.
The Media Is Bumming People Out. That’s Intentional
Legacy media’s new favorite beat is doomerism, driving outrage clicks on the defeatist idea that none of us can do anything to improve the state of the world.
The Raid on the ‘Marion County Record’ Is Only the Beginning
The Right's war on the fourth estate is nothing new. But when cops raided a rural Kansas newspaper office and its editors’ homes over an investigation in progress, a new horrifying precedent was set.
Manufactured Outrage Is Big Business
Republicans believe that stoking their constituents’ rage by inventing controversies wins at the voting booths. So why aren’t news outlets exposing these campaigns of terror for what they are?