Author Question: How was it possible that the Literary Digest erroneously predicted that Republican Alf Landon would ... (Read 54 times)

nautica902 · **on:** Jul 10, 2018

How was it possible that the Literary Digest erroneously predicted that Republican Alf Landon would beat incumbent Democrat Franklin Roosevelt in his 1936 bid for reelection, despite having obtained over 2million responses to its poll?

What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Most people describe government and election news coverage as superficial, narrow, and limited. Explain what factors contribute to these tendencies in news coverage in the United States.

Whom do government officials and candidates blame for the nature of news coverage? Whom do journalists blame?

What will be an ideal response?

bpool94 · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 10, 2018

Answer to Question 1

An ideal response will:
1, Discuss the significance of proper sampling techniques.
2, Explain that the Literary Digest used two of the biggest available list of names, telephone books and motor vehicle records, in order to conduct its poll. These lists prevented the poll, taken in the midst of the Great Depression, from being representative of the voting universe as it represented only those with above-average incomes. Sampling techniques should be based on representative accuracy, not solely on number of responses.

Answer to Question 2

An ideal response will:
1, Discuss the factors that contribute to the superficial and narrow coverage of American news, including the need to retain an audience and not be boring or confusing, the short amount of time given to news analysis, the fact that the media focus on strategy and the horse race, and the development of technology that has allowed reporters to do their jobs faster but not better.
2,Explain how politicians blame the media for this problem because the media are driven by a need to generate an audience and thus can ignore politicians' requests for time to discuss issues at length. For example, the text mentions the rebuff of President Clinton and his request for network time to discuss United StatesChina relations. In addition, discuss how politicians often claim that they have a lot to say, but that the media only discuss a small portion of it. Note Jimmy Carter's frustration with the superficial coverage of campaigns, despite the fact that it is covered by more than 100 reporters.
3, Explain how the media blame politicians for embracing the sound bite as a way to stay visible in the news without saying anything of substance, and that the incentive is to build catchy phrases instead of substantive plans.