How do you cover a poll that shows satisfaction with the economy, despite all the harrumphing about an impending recession, is much higher than it ever was under President Barack Obama? Or reveals that views on race relations are actually better today than three years ago? Or shows that most think the political system is being shaken up in a good way?

Answer: You don’t. That is, if you’re a mainstream media outlet and the poll is your own.

Here’s the scary headline NBC News ran on the poll it conducted with the Wall Street Journal and published over the weekend: “’A deep and boiling anger’: NBC/WSJ poll finds a pessimistic America despite current economic satisfaction.”

The really important finding, according to NBC, was that “70% of Americans say they’re angry at the political establishment.”

But it turns out that this anger level is unchanged since October 2015. That means the “deep and boiling anger” was happening under Obama. Why isn’t that the headline?

Sure, you can say that the anger has continued under Trump. But the story we’ve been told repeatedly for two years is that Trump is responsible for the current climate of hatred and discord. The fact that the poll debunks this narrative is newsworthy.

The NBC reporters covering their own poll ignore another newsworthy finding. More people feel good about race relations today than they did under Obama.

Yes, you read that correctly.

The poll found that more than a third (36%) say that relations between races are very or fairly good. That’s hardly a great number. But it’s up from 24% in July 2016, after nearly eight years of Obama.

Even more shocking, 36% of Hispanics rate race relations as good, which is up from 23% in July 2016.

When an unexpected finding like that emerges from a poll, journalists would — under normal circumstances — judge it newsworthy.

But, because this particular finding runs counter to the liberal media narrative that Trump is sowing racial hatred, NBC ignores it. Instead, it focuses on the finding that 56% think race relations have gotten worse under Trump.

That’s not good news, either, but it’s not as bad as NBC wants people to think. After all, the public felt exactly the same under Obama. A CNN poll taken in 2016 found that 54% said race relations had worsened under Obama. A Rasmussen poll that year found that 60% of likely voters thought relations between races had deteriorated over the prior eight years. Gallup found that the share of blacks who felt race relations were good plunged from 66% in 2013 to 49% in 2016.

There’s another finding that, if it weren’t for the media’s absolute disdain of Trump, would be newsworthy. The poll asked whether those surveyed felt “satisfied that our political system is being shaken up and those who have been ignored for too long are now being heard and put first.”

Given how Democrats and the mainstream press describe the current administration — as helping rich, greedy corporations at the expense of working families — you’d think that few would agree with the sentiment. Yet 52% did. NBC ignores this finding as well.

When the media can’t even report on their own findings with any degree of reliability, what does that say about stories where they have a less direct connection to the facts?

— Written by John Merline

Note to Readers: Issues & Insights is a new site launched by the seasoned journalists behind the legendary IBD Editorials page. Our mission is to use our decades of experience to provide timely, fact-based reporting and deeply informed analysis on the news of the day.

We’re doing this on a voluntary basis because we think our approach to commentary is sorely lacking both in today’s mainstream media and on the internet. If you like what you see, feel free to click the Tip Jar over on the right sidebar. And be sure to tell your friends!

Kinda doves with the minorities I talk with....  

I agree with you re: Lizzie.....

I picked her out a while back.
She won't use the word socialism  

She can talk it up good, however her one on one remains to be seen.
I figger by the time she would get to Trump, she'll have to walk through a lot more fire, first.

She can stump......and she isn't Hillary  

I don't think the indian thing will hurt her, Trump would be wise to let that go....
Maybe being indian myself, I understand how lots of folks are confused about heritage.
My family always referred to it, but of course, I am on a tribal roll, etc....
But other people, when the topic comes up, tell me they are part indian too....

I think her taking the "test" proves she believed it, if she was knowingly lying, she'd never done that......right.

WebsterMark wrote on 08/28/19 at 07:27:17:



LOL - neither did she....

Sorry Ray; not buying it. She knew exactly what she was doing. Allowed them to make prominent note

Survey: Diversity Lacking At HLS

By Theresa J. Chung,
October 22, 1996

A majority of Harvard Law School students are unhappy with the level of representation of women and minorities on the Law School faculty, according to a recent survey.

Harvard Law School spokesman was calling her the school’s only Native American professor as early as Oct. 22, 1996, in a Harvard Crimson article.

“Although the conventional wisdom among students and faculty is that the Law School faculty includes no minority women, [spokesperson Mike] Chmura said Professor of Law Elizabeth Warren is Native American,” read the article, which was titled “Survey: Diversity Lacking at HLS.”

I get quoted in magazine articles for my particular work segment as do most of our segment managers. We all know exactly what the quotes are, where they are published and when because we have to review them and okay them before any of our names go into print. I can't imagine it would be different for the Harvard Law school. She knew without a doubt she was being classified as a Native American minority and that figured heavily, if not completely, in her hiring.

To be fair, if someone were to give me a particular status I really wasn't, I'm not saying I wouldn't let it ride if it were advantageous. But once the gig is up, it's up. Own it. She knew she wasn't exactly Tonto's long lost sister, but she played like she was for as long as she could. Then Trump put a carrot on a stick in front of her and she just had to reach for it. 1/1024th!!!   My wife did a DNA test and is a little more than that so guess I married me a squaw. I tried that line on her by the way, didn't go over well. I wouldn't recommend it.....

it's already gotten traction, but if he were listening to me, I'd tell him to drop it. She already looks like a fool over it.
Hit her where it matters, her plan to dramatically re-tool the US economy and by default, the current way of life. No one wants that. Even our leftist, socialist friends don't. They say they do, but much like those who say they agree with high min wage laws suddenly stop going to those little coffee shops who had to raise prices, when push comes to shove, they turn away from those moral stands pretty quick.