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The Southern Poverty Law Center is ideologically committed to certain positions. If you read a poll sponsored by Breitbart, would you inclined to believe it? Ho

The Southern Poverty Law Center is ideologically committed to certain positions. If you read a poll sponsored by Breitbart, would you inclined to believe it? How about Media Matters? Stick to organizations that do polling for a living.

draw_down 4y ago
eyelidlessness 4y ago
> The Southern Poverty Law Center is ideologically committed to certain positions. Against hate groups, violence and malice directed at people for innate facts about themselves. Not that it makes them a reliable polling organization, but the “ideological” position deserves mention because unfamiliar readers might mistakenly think their ideological position is something more specific and contentious. Their “ideological” position is that nazis and the klan are bad, and that people (figuratively or faithfully) doing nazi/klan cosplay are doing harm. That’s not Mao’s Red Book ideology or even “I heart John Boener” bumper stickers ideology. It’s just “murdering and torturing millions of people for who they are is wrong” ideology, and that matters when you’re calling out bias. > Breitbart […] Media Matters? It seems you’re trying to be “inclusive” by dismissing biased hypothetical pollsters, so I’ll grant that. But I will also emphasize this: > Stick to organizations that do polling for a living. That’s the only part of your comment that actually matters for digesting polls. Organizations which do polling for a living either produce polling with some meaningful reliability or rapidly develop a reputation for their poor track record. As an example, Fox News. They’re generally understood to be ideologically motivated. I doubt I’ve ever agreed with them on anything ideological, and if I had it’s something I’d really deeply reconsider. But they’re a reliable polling organization, quite a bit more than the organizations you mention.

draw_down 4y ago

eyelidlessness 4y ago

> The Southern Poverty Law Center is ideologically committed to certain positions. Against hate groups, violence and malice directed at people for innate facts about themselves. Not that it makes them a reliable polling organization, but the “ideological” position deserves mention because unfamiliar readers might mistakenly think their ideological position is something more specific and contentious. Their “ideological” position is that nazis and the klan are bad, and that people (figuratively or faithfully) doing nazi/klan cosplay are doing harm. That’s not Mao’s Red Book ideology or even “I heart John Boener” bumper stickers ideology. It’s just “murdering and torturing millions of people for who they are is wrong” ideology, and that matters when you’re calling out bias. > Breitbart […] Media Matters? It seems you’re trying to be “inclusive” by dismissing biased hypothetical pollsters, so I’ll grant that. But I will also emphasize this: > Stick to organizations that do polling for a living. That’s the only part of your comment that actually matters for digesting polls. Organizations which do polling for a living either produce polling with some meaningful reliability or rapidly develop a reputation for their poor track record. As an example, Fox News. They’re generally understood to be ideologically motivated. I doubt I’ve ever agreed with them on anything ideological, and if I had it’s something I’d really deeply reconsider. But they’re a reliable polling organization, quite a bit more than the organizations you mention.