# If Trump wins the White House, will the Mainstream Media admit it? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 18, 2016, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-trump-wins-the-white-house-will-the-mainstream-media-admit-it/766239 "2016-09-18T07:32:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-trump-wins-the-white-house-will-the-mainstream-media-admit-it/766239/61 "2016-09-18T20:11:01Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Were they talking about how Trump had overtaken Clinton, in both the popular vote and electoral college? If so there’s been scant evidence of it around here. This isn’t how polls work. In some polls, national and swing state, he’s taken a lead. In others he hasn’t. Overall he’s much closer, by the polls, over the last week or two than for the several weeks before, but it’s certainly not clear that he’s taken a lead in either (most poll aggregators still have Clinton ahead, but by a smaller margin than before). ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-trump-wins-the-white-house-will-the-mainstream-media-admit-it/766239/62 "2016-09-18T20:11:36Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > And now I am out because real life intrudes and I get to spend time with normal people. Ta. 🙂 I do hope he doesn’t talk to “normal people” the way he does here… “I DARE you to cite one SPECIFIC example of where Rush or Drudge LIED! You can’t do it, because you’re an ignorant liberal WHORE, Grandma!” _[entire family drops their forks]_ “Ta.” ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-trump-wins-the-white-house-will-the-mainstream-media-admit-it/766239/63 "2016-09-18T20:19:30Z")
Cher’s Absolutely Positively Final This Time I Really Mean It Farewell Tour. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-trump-wins-the-white-house-will-the-mainstream-media-admit-it/766239/64 "2016-09-18T20:34:30Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Meh, the order of the factors does not change the product. **GIGO** , you eventually realized that talking to [del]FXMastermind[/del] was a waste of electrons. Same here, man. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-trump-wins-the-white-house-will-the-mainstream-media-admit-it/766239/65 "2016-09-18T20:46:51Z")
This guy’s retired more times than Brett Favre. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-trump-wins-the-white-house-will-the-mainstream-media-admit-it/766239/66 "2016-09-18T20:55:37Z")
Favre’s gonna pitch for the Cubs. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-trump-wins-the-white-house-will-the-mainstream-media-admit-it/766239/67 "2016-09-18T20:56:12Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Were they talking about how Trump had overtaken Clinton, in both the popular vote and electoral college? If so there’s been scant evidence of it around here. But evidence of it “around here” was not your original complaint. Your OP was about the media outlets themselves. And the media outlets you were complaining about have been discussing Trump’s improving poll numbers all week. This is, unsurprisingly, another of your dishonest tactics: moving the goalposts. When people point out that your claim about the actual media outlets is full of shit, you move the goalposts and complain that people “around here” haven’t been talking about it. Classic \*\*Starving Artist \*\*misdirection. > [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Ahem, you seem to have missed the point rather badly here vis-a-vis my so-called dishonesty. (And don’t forget, you’re the airheaded asspipe who once amusingly made the claim to **Bricker** that I was dishonest but not aware of it. :rolleyes: ) The dishonesty I was accused of in this thread was in regard to whether or not I listen to right-wing radio and tv and had nothing to do with the reportage of polls. So your complaint is that the thing i said you’re dishonest about is different than the thing other people are accusing you of being dishonest about? Big fucking deal. If there’s one thing that’s clear, based on years of experience on this message board, it’s that you’re eminently capable of being dishonest on multiple fronts and multiple topics at once. ---
**Author:** ![Paranoid\_Randroid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paranoid_randroid/32/18_2.png) [@Paranoid\_Randroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paranoid_Randroid)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-trump-wins-the-white-house-will-the-mainstream-media-admit-it/766239/68 "2016-09-18T21:11:58Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Were they talking about how Trump had overtaken Clinton, in both the popular vote and electoral college? If so there’s been scant evidence of it around here. Where’s the beef, **Starving Artist**? If you want to claim that left-leaning news sources intentionally ignore Clinton losing ground in order to make news rather than report on it, you really have to make two cases: (1) they really _are_ ignoring it, and (2) they wouldn’t behave similarly if the polls showed the race going in Clinton’s favor. You haven’t done either of those things. Please do so. Show what NYT politics pages look like now and what they looked like when the race started going Clinton’s favor – demonstrate how they differ. You’ve shown no proof and made no case. You’re not being taken seriously, and you’re doing your best to ensure that you shouldn’t be. It’s in your court to stem that tide. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-trump-wins-the-white-house-will-the-mainstream-media-admit-it/766239/69 "2016-09-18T21:12:19Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > And now like I said in my previous post, I’m out. I didn’t want this in the Pit and I’m not gonna participate now that it’s here. Yes you are. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-trump-wins-the-white-house-will-the-mainstream-media-admit-it/766239/70 "2016-09-18T21:29:32Z")
OK, Siri, here’s the job. Look up every time **SA** said “That’s it, I’m out of here!” and then posted. Count those posts. Open his bank account, take out a dollar for every one. If it breaks him, open it again and put a couple hundred back in. Send the rest to the Moderator Xanax Fund. Be sure to include its me, I need the brownies… ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-trump-wins-the-white-house-will-the-mainstream-media-admit-it/766239/71 "2016-09-18T21:48:06Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > **GIGO** , you eventually realized that talking to [del]FXMastermind[/del] was a waste of electrons. Same here, man. Well, I have to tell you that after many years of dealing with **SA** and FX, FX Mastermind was as you report, but **SA** here is on record of not going to Vote for Trump. He is not going to vote for Hillary either, but I’m not expecting a pony. The point is that at least he listens. It may be just 5-10% of what we say, but he gets **something** unlike the others. That was however a good item to point out that Rush and many Republicans are on the wrong side of even science regarding climate change. Just by taking that important issue into account it is clear how off base Starving Artist is. > **[Duke Researcher Denounces Rush Limbaugh's "Ridiculous" Distortion Of His...](https://www.mediamatters.org/rush-limbaugh/duke-researcher-denounces-rush-limbaughs-ridiculous-distortion-his-global-warming)** Conservatives of today do not give a damn about future generations, and they were not giving much help to the past generations that had the most needs in America after Nixon. > **[How the Southern Strategy Made Donald Trump Possible](https://newrepublic.com/article/130039/southern-strategy-made-donald-trump-possible)** > > In states like South Carolina, the mogul reaps the benefits of the GOP's longstanding appeal to racism. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-trump-wins-the-white-house-will-the-mainstream-media-admit-it/766239/72 "2016-09-18T21:53:35Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Troll. Ban. > > I mean, how much more of SA’s schtick do you need? :rolleyes: Do you really think he is sincere when he posts this garbage? We’ve banned long-term trolls before (tho of course it usually took a long highly arduous quest to slay some dragon on some distant mountaintop somewhere to finally get ye olde trigger pulled). May I suggest a refinement of terminology, or at least prioritizing degrees of trollery. An example of a 100% unmitigated troll with no purpose other than mindless trolling with no thought behind it whatsoever [would be this one](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19636162&postcount=12). Compared to that, **SA** is merely a delusional far-right nutjob who is probably just off his meds. He once declared Trump the greatest thing since sliced bread and the smartest guy to ever run for president (the exact words escape me, but that was the gist), then backed off his support, but seems to be slowly getting back on the bandwagon again. It may all just be a function of dosage, but the point is, there are worse than him around. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-trump-wins-the-white-house-will-the-mainstream-media-admit-it/766239/73 "2016-09-18T21:53:50Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > The dishonesty I was accused of in this thread was in regard to whether or not I listen to right-wing radio and tv and had nothing to do with the reportage of polls. As I pointed out, it is clear that the echo chamber is there and some of the echo comes from Rush, as you do check him on the internet your honesty claim is just a fig leaf. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-trump-wins-the-white-house-will-the-mainstream-media-admit-it/766239/74 "2016-09-18T22:49:49Z")
Have we \*ever \*seen somebody post less \*after \*a drama-queenish flounce-off than before it? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-trump-wins-the-white-house-will-the-mainstream-media-admit-it/766239/75 "2016-09-18T23:23:02Z")
> [@Paranoid\_Randroid](#): > > Where’s the beef, **Starving Artist**? If you want to claim that left-leaning news sources intentionally ignore Clinton losing ground in order to make news rather than report on it, you really have to make two cases: (1) they really _are_ ignoring it, and (2) they wouldn’t behave similarly if the polls showed the race going in Clinton’s favor. > > You haven’t done either of those things. Please do so. . . . Just to be scrupulously fair to the crawling little turd, how can anyone demonstrate point (2) – what the media would do in a hypothetical and counter-factual situation? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-trump-wins-the-white-house-will-the-mainstream-media-admit-it/766239/76 "2016-09-18T23:23:20Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > I’ve definitely been seeing CNN’s headline saying that the race is pretty much even, and that some polls have Trump ahead. Of the last ten national polls noted on 538, which is to say every reputable one, eight have Clinton ahead, one Trump ahead, one tied. He is very close but it seems very, very likely Clinton is just a little bit ahead as of now. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2016, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-trump-wins-the-white-house-will-the-mainstream-media-admit-it/766239/77 "2016-09-18T23:38:02Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > I was called a liar for saying I didn’t watch or listen to right wing radio and television. No sweeping declaration there. You were also called a liar for announcing (repeatedly) that you were leaving this thread and returning (repeatedly) to it. How about addressing that? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-trump-wins-the-white-house-will-the-mainstream-media-admit-it/766239/78 "2016-09-19T00:54:50Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Have we \*ever \*seen somebody post less \*after \*a drama-queenish flounce-off than before it? Oooh, you’re just a big nasty silly that deserves a good _slap_! ---
**Author:** ![Paranoid\_Randroid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paranoid_randroid/32/18_2.png) [@Paranoid\_Randroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paranoid_Randroid)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-trump-wins-the-white-house-will-the-mainstream-media-admit-it/766239/79 "2016-09-19T00:58:52Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Just to be scrupulously fair to the crawling little turd, how can anyone demonstrate point (2) – what the media would do in a hypothetical and counter-factual situation? Easy peasy. After the Democratic National Convention, and related items like Trump’s fight with the Gold Star Family, Hillary’s polling shot way up. Was the polling (and I mean specifically the polling) reported on in the predicted manner? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-trump-wins-the-white-house-will-the-mainstream-media-admit-it/766239/80 "2016-09-19T02:25:15Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Just got online tonight and began perusing some of the country’s major news sites to see what was up. Apparently Donald Trump has virtually erased Hillary Clinton’s lead in some of the major polls. Here’s how this fact came to light: > > _Fox News_: “TRUMP TALKS TOUGH: Back to ‘Law and Order’ as polls show tight race” > > _Drudge Report_: “WIRE: TRUMP CATCHES CLINTON IN ELECTORAL COLLEGE…” > > _NY Times_: Crickets > > _CNN_: Crickets > > _USA Today_: Crickets > > _NPR_: Crickets > > Of course all the cricketing sites had numerous articles and/or opinion pieces lambasting Trump for one offense or another, but not a peep was to be found anywhere to acknowledge the fact that the race is now neck and neck. > [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Were they talking about how Trump had overtaken Clinton, in both the popular vote and electoral college? If so there’s been scant evidence of it around here. There’s a shitload of shit here. First, your [Fox Story](http://megynkelly.org/170001/trump-talking-tough-back-to-law-and-order-as-polls-show-tight-race/) does not mention the electoral college. What it says about the popular vote is this: > [@](#): > > A Fox News poll released Thursday shows Clinton ahead of Trump by just 1 percentage point among likely voters in a four-way ballot. The only Drudgy link I could find [is this](https://www.google.com/search?q=WIRE%3A+TRUMP+CATCHES+CLINTON+IN+ELECTORAL+COLLEGE&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=drudge+WIRE:+TRUMP+CATCHES+CLINTON+IN+ELECTORAL+COLLEGE), which redirects to a Reuters story–surely a part of the mainstream media if ever there were one. It says: > [@](#): > > The project, which is based on a weekly tracking poll of more than 15,000 Americans, shows that the 2016 presidential race could end in a photo finish on Nov. 8, with the major-party candidates running nearly even in the Electoral College, the body that ultimately selects the president. > … > If the election were held today, the project estimates that Clinton has a 60 percent chance of winning by 18 electoral votes. > … > In a separate national Reuters/Ipsos tracking poll, Clinton continues to lead Trump by 4 percentage points, and her recent bout with pneumonia doesn’t appear to have scared away her supporters. So again, it says nothing about Trump overtaking Clinton in the popular or electoral votes, indeed saying precisely the opposite in both cases. Now, it’s true that on looking at NYTimes and NPR (I didn’t check the others out), all their stories about the election seemed to be on substantive issues instead of on the horse-race aspect. In the biz, we call that a feature, not a bug. When I want horserace coverage, that’s what fivethirtyeight is for. I WANT my media to cover the issues in the race. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-trump-wins-the-white-house-will-the-mainstream-media-admit-it/766239.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-trump-wins-the-white-house-will-the-mainstream-media-admit-it/766239.md?page=5)