* “We have a responsibility to consider whether releasing horse race numbers in close proximity to an election is making a positive or negative contribution to the political discourse.”–Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. Bottom line: Polling has never been more challenging—from push-polling and problematic sampling to cell phone scenarios and online misinformation. This is not the Gallup of yesteryear—with respected, professional pollsters and cooperative callees, who appreciated their participatory role.
* According to research from the University of North Carolina, about ¼ of the nation’s newspapers have closed and half of local journalism jobs lost in the last 15 years.