OPINION
Media narrative during election season
Published May 3, 2024
Written by Henry
Photography by Simply American
With political campaigns kicking off, let’s take a look at a recent poll done by MLive. This poll not only gives a snapshot of what Ottawa County residents think, but also how the media will cover this election season.
AFTER ALMOST 17 MONTHS AND HUNDREDS OF LOCAL AND NATIONAL MEDIA HIT PIECES, MLIVE’S EXPENSIVE POLL SHOWS MEDIA FAILURE AND EXTREME BIAS.
“For more than a year, Michigan’s fastest growing county has been deeply divided by political changes instigated by an ultra-conservative group that swept into power under the banner of Ottawa Impact,” wrote MLive Editor John Hiner in a Letter from the Editor.
The truth is that for 17 months local and national media have written hundreds of articles that characterize Ottawa Impact and those associated as “far-right” or “ultra-conservative.” A reader would struggle to find a mainstream media source that doesn’t consistently mention Ottawa Impact, Joe Moss, or Sylvia Rhodea.
After spending all that time assassinating the character of those associated with Ottawa Impact, MLive hired The Glengariff Group to conduct a survey of registered voters in Ottawa County who are likely to vote in the November 2024 election. The survey took place March 3–6, 2024, and asked 600 registered voters 39 questions. The survey questions were aimed at what voters think of Ottawa Impact as well as what they think are the concerns with Ottawa County. The purpose of the poll was to answer the MLive editor’s question of: “What is noise, and what is substance?”
Poll Shows Activist Media Failed To Sway Voters
Following is a look at a few of the most bias- and narrative-driven questions asked in the MLive poll.
MLive Poll question: Is Ottawa County on the right track or wrong track?
When 600 of Ottawa County’s roughly 220,000 registered voters were asked if Ottawa County was on the right track or the wrong track, 47.7% of those questioned answered that the county is on the right track, while 34.3% said the county is on the wrong track. Approximately 108 Ottawa County voters chose not to offer an opinion.
The activist media wasn’t really looking for results showing that more voters said Ottawa County was on the right track, which was evident by the headlines that accompanied the poll questions. MLive published more than 12 articles that slandered Ottawa Impact even though the first question shows that the majority of those polled responded that the county is on the right track. It is more likely that this poll was done to see how the media was doing spreading its narrative, and a positive poll about Ottawa Impact wasn’t going to cut it.
MLive Poll question: Have you heard of Joe Moss? What is [your] impression?
72.1% of voters had no opinion, hadn’t heard of Moss, or chose not to answer. His name is mentioned in publications weekly, sometimes daily, and yet approximately 433 people polled had no opinion or didn’t know who he was—a huge tell that the leftist media has failed incredibly with its reach in Ottawa County.
MLive Poll question: Have you heard of Adeline Hambley? What’s your impression?
Media darling, Ottawa County Health Director Adeline Hambley, was even less known than Moss. 75.6% of voters had no opinion of Hambley, never heard of her, or chose not to answer.
According to the spin of local and national activist media, the majority of Ottawa County approve of Hambley. Which is a weird fact to state considering a majority of those asked haven’t even heard of her.
MLive Poll question: Have you heard of Ottawa Impact? What is [your] impression?
50.7% of voters had no opinion, had never heard of Ottawa Impact, or chose not to answer. Of the 600 voters, the media has been unable to reach over half with its “news.”
MLive Poll question: How likely are you to vote for a candidate affiliated with Ottawa Impact?
60.6% of Ottawa County voters said that an Ottawa Impact affiliation would have no effect, or it was unknown if it would. Let’s word that a little differently. Of the 600 voters polled, 364 claimed affiliations with Ottawa Impact wouldn’t affect their vote or they didn’t know if it would.
Just these few questions from the poll show that the full-on media attack on Ottawa Impact has failed, at least with this sampling of people, where the majority of voters don’t appear to read or listen to mainstream media.
NOT ONLY WAS THE MEDIA’S FAILURE SHOWN BY THIS POLL, BUT MLIVE ALSO MADE ITS BIAS CLEAR.
Narrative And Bias Showing As MLive Reports On The Poll
Local and national activist media have all but thrown journalistic ethics and standards out the window. There are hundreds of ethics codes that cover journalistic work. Some vary in detail, but most include the principles of truthfulness, accuracy, and fact-based communications. Many also include objectivity, impartiality, and fairness. The reader should not be able to see a narrative or bias.
Unfortunately, that is no longer true in Ottawa County. Every article put out by mainstream media about Ottawa County government or the commissioners is dripping with bias.
Headlines using the poll to prop up the narrative
According to the poll, Joe Moss was more known to voters in Ottawa County over Adeline Hambley, but those facts don’t play nice in the narrative sandbox.
44.6% of voters have heard of Joe Moss as opposed to only 35.2% knowing Hambley. The headline for Hambley leads the reader to believe that some sort of large number representing voters approve of her. It was actually only 88 voters that approve, somehow not a number that should make someone think “majority.” That was an illusion created by media bias.
MLive Poll question: What do you think is the biggest issue facing Ottawa County right now?
The 600 Ottawa County voters were asked to share their biggest concerns for Ottawa County right now. 6.5% or 39 voters responded, “Ottawa Impact.” Five other responses ranked higher than “Ottawa Impact,” but MLive let its bias show in the form of a green line highlighting Ottawa Impact, attempting to draw readers’ eyes to the desired answer.
MLive’s Polling Company Rated On Transparency And Accuracy
With all the hours wasted on creating a narrative in a valiant attempt at election interference, MLive wanted to see how its efforts paid off and shelled out some big money for this poll. However, it appears MLive didn’t feel that transparency and accuracy were important because Glengariff Group was the organization chosen to conduct the poll.
According to a recent article, 538—an affiliate with ABC News focused on opinion polls, analysis, politics, economics, and sports—combines pollsters’ Pollscores and Transparency Scores into a star rating between 0.5 and 3. Pollsters who score between 1.5 and 1.9 stars are decent, but typically score poorly on either transparency or accuracy. 538 gave the Glengariff Group 1.5 stars out of 3. 538.
For a news media so concerned about the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners’ transparency as seen in the many articles, one would think a polling company that scores high in that area would have been preferred.
But then would they have been able to spin the narrative?
Poll Results Tell Editor How Well MLive’s Tactics Are Working
John Hiner said in his Letter from the Editor that the poll would show what was noise and what was substance.
The poll results are in… the media is all noise and very little substance.
The media narrative and character assassinations will not stop, in fact they will only get louder as we approach the 2024 election. What Ottawa County is witnessing is election interference by our own activist media.
The opinions expressed within this article are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the positions and beliefs of Simply American or its affiliates.