Friday 26th of April 2024
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opinion polls, slanted editorials and fake independence of the media...

polls

A major opinion polling company used by GetUp!, Greenpeace, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age and some political candidates is co-owned by union heavyweights the CFMMEU and the ACTU, an ABC investigation has discovered.

Key points: 
  • Major polling company uComms is co-owned by the CFMMEU and ACTU
  • Its polls have appeared across the front pages of national newspapers
  • The company says its ownership structure is transparent, but clients say they were not aware of its union links

 

Melbourne-based uComms, which uses the robo-polling technology of veteran pollster ReachTEL, is now facing a backlash from clients who say they had no idea the company was controlled by two of the most powerful forces on the left-side of politics.

Polls by uComms have received widespread media coverage in the past 12 months, including a recent front-page splash commissioned by The Sydney Morning Herald predicting a Labor win in the New South Wales state election.

The story made no mention of the polling company's ties to the ACTU and CFMMEU. 

Gladys Berejiklian's Coalition government was re-elected in a majority government a fortnight after the poll was published.

Group executive editor of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, James Chessell, said the paper was not aware of who owns the company and will no longer commission uComms in the future.

There is no suggestion the outcome of uComms polling is influenced by its ownership structure.

 

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-10/political-polling-company-ucomms-...

 

Two (major) things helped the defeat of Labor in this NSW election: One, was the gaffe by Daley about the "Asians" and Two was the editorials of all the major media, including the Sydney Morning Herald, supporting the return of the Gladys government. 

 

One must also not forget that the other MAJOR POLLING company is owned by News Corp.

dirty tactics...

The Liberal party is using targeted Facebook ads to falsely claim Bill Shorten wants to tax popular car brands including Holdens, Toyota Hiluxes and other utility vehicles.

The ads – which appeared on Monday – use Facebook ad functionality to target users with an interest in particular vehicle types to make the false claim about Labor’s policy, which includes vehicle emissions standards and a target of 50% of new car sales being electric vehicles by 2030.

The Coalition is stepping up its attack despite the fact the treasurer and former environment minister Josh Frydenberg has spruiked electric vehicles on the basis they will save drivers money and that vehicle emissions standards are still part of the government’s plan to reduce emissions.

The ads, posted by the Liberal party’s official account, state that “Labor’s car tax would mean higher prices on some of Australia’s most popular cars” and encourage users to “sign up to stop Labor’s car tax”.

 

Read more:

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/apr/10/liberal-party-fac...

 

See also:

the wheels are turning... in scummo's women, now in great number behind him in photo ops, will save your petrol guzzlers from labor's electrics...

 

 

making up the numbers...

The small French Alps village of Crets en Belledonne is counting sheep, but not to cure insomnia. Instead, they're enrolling them in school to make up for low attendance.

Yes, you read that right: the Jules Ferry elementary school registered some 15 sheep as pupils on Tuesday in order to fulfill French regulations which set quotas for the number of students required at a school.

“National education is unfortunately only numbers,” said Gaelle Laval, one of the parents behind the odd initiative. “So now, with this surge in numbers, we are good.”

The elementary school risked losing state funding for one of its eleven classes when its enrollment figure fell below the required threshold, prompting residents to symbolically register the animals to ensure the quota was met.

Human students at Jules Ferry were elated by the arrival of their new classmates.

 

Read more 

https://www.rt.com/news/458822-french-school-enrolls-sheep/

 

 

Read from top.  It's all about opinions and stats, isn't it?

crooked polls...

Consistent polling errors over the past few years could have created a "parallel universe" in Australian politics, long-time Labor Party pollster John Utting has said in the wake of the federal election.

Key points: 
  • Multiple public polls had shown Labor consistently in the lead for years 
  • Exit polls on election day still pointed to a Labor win 
  • Industry veteran John Utting says errors most likely arose as pollsters grappled with accessing representative cross-sections of society


Speaking with 7.30, Mr Utting said there seemed to have been a two or three percentage-point error embedded in the opinion polling of the past "few years" that had distorted the narrative around leaders, parties and policies. 

"A lot of stuff has happened based on that," he said. 

The Coalition's victory in the 2019 election sent shockwaves through the opinion polling industry.

Multiple public polls had shown Labor consistently in the lead for years on a two-party preferred basis, and exit polls on election day were still pointing to a narrow Labor win.

 

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-23/federal-election-2019-aus-votes-p...

 

 

Read from top...

 

We knew the polls were "crook"...