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What the Dubious Corona Poll Reveals
Last edited Mon Mar 2, 2020, 06:46 AM - Edit history (1)
From https://amp.theatlantic.com/amp/article/607240/ :
What the Dubious Corona Poll Reveals
Americans are desperate to believe the worst about one another.
YASCHA MOUNK
FEBRUARY 28, 2020
Corona beer bottles
HENRY ROMERO / REUTERS
Have you heard that 38 percent of Americans won’t drink Corona beer, because they are afraid of contracting the coronavirus?
For the past hours, this finding has spread across the internet like wildfire (or, more apt, a dangerous disease). CNN, the New York Post, and Vice all wrote up the poll.
On Twitter, where “38% of Americans” was the top national trend for parts of the day, many writers with large followings used it as an occasion to condemn their fellow citizens as idiots. “38% of Americans shouldn’t be allowed to roam free,” Benjamin Dreyer, an author, wrote.
The problem here is that the poll, published by the PR agency 5WPR, absolutely did not find what the wags on Twitter say it did. Its dissemination, however, does tell us an awful lot about a screwed-up media system that allows unscrupulous companies and individuals to spread misinformation.
[...]
Americans are desperate to believe the worst about one another.
YASCHA MOUNK
FEBRUARY 28, 2020
Corona beer bottles
HENRY ROMERO / REUTERS
Have you heard that 38 percent of Americans won’t drink Corona beer, because they are afraid of contracting the coronavirus?
For the past hours, this finding has spread across the internet like wildfire (or, more apt, a dangerous disease). CNN, the New York Post, and Vice all wrote up the poll.
On Twitter, where “38% of Americans” was the top national trend for parts of the day, many writers with large followings used it as an occasion to condemn their fellow citizens as idiots. “38% of Americans shouldn’t be allowed to roam free,” Benjamin Dreyer, an author, wrote.
The problem here is that the poll, published by the PR agency 5WPR, absolutely did not find what the wags on Twitter say it did. Its dissemination, however, does tell us an awful lot about a screwed-up media system that allows unscrupulous companies and individuals to spread misinformation.
[...]
More at link.
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