Posted on 09/18/2004 6:15:04 AM PDT by kristinn
Posted on Sat, Sep. 18, 2004
'Fake' polls, 'phony' stories -- sounds like a leftist paper Professor Toro Professor Toro
By now, the "no" votes could be up to a gazillion on an informal poll on The Herald's Web site last weekend.
The poll asked: Should the 10-year federal ban on assault weapons be extended?
The results haven't been tallied because the poll was hijacked. Or "Freeped." That's what the Free Republic Web site calls it when its fans jam a poll to mess up the results.
The Free Republic folks wrote that the poll in a "small local left wing Northern California newspaper" was intended to support gun control, as were similar polls last week in the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel and the Hagerstown, Md., Herald Mail. Those are well-known leftist outlets as well.
One Free Republic fan explained his participation in the exercise.
"Freeping online polls is a perfectly valid activity. Online polls are used by these dweebs to prop up phony stories. Screwing with their polls screws up their stupid, fake stories."
As another wrote, newspapers and polling companies get their results "by polling 600 people in Boston, Harlem and Berkeley. You aren't going to get those answers in Boone County, West Virginia."
The Web site describes Free Republic as "an online gathering place for independent, grass-roots conservatism on the Web. We're working to roll back decades of governmental largesse, to root out political fraud and corruption, and to champion causes which further conservatism in America. And we always have fun doing it. Hoo-yah!"
---The results haven't been tallied because the poll was hijacked.---
How do we know the poll was "hijacked" if they don't tally the results? Are they trying to pull a Rather on us?
Professor Toro, I wrote that the Herald is a "small local left wing Northern California newspaper." Let's decontruct that statement ok.
small: every day I trudge out and pick up the Herald, San Jose Mercury News and Wall Street Journal. Without exception the Herald is the lightest load.
local: most of my neighbors get the Herald. Most of them also take the Mercury News or the San Francisco Chronicle. People in San Jose and San Francisco are not taking the Herald.
Many of us jokingly refer to the Herald as "Mercury News Lite" as a goodly percentage of Mercury News articles show up in the Herald 2-3 days later - trimmed for size. Knight Ridder must save a lot of money on editorial staff at the Herald by running all thise editorials from their other papers.
Yes, you are the epitome of local. Mostly good for movie schedules now that L. M. Boyd has retired. In fact, if it weren't for John Pisto on Wednesdays I'd drop it.
Left wing: well if you compare yourselves to Coast Weekly you're the ghost of Joe McCarthy but on an absolute scale you are totally left-wing, liberal, socialist, whatever term you want. I don't blame you, that's you're audience. Monterey gave Sam Farr 65% of the vote in the last election and he's as bad as they come. He has a UN flag prominently displayed behind his office desk in Washington and a US flag hidden somewhere in a corner. He can't even bring home the pork. Why did construction crews come down from Alaska to demolish old Army buildings a Fort Ord?
Northern California: aahhh. That's where I screwed up Professor. Folks here turn up their noses at "Northern California" After all, you're "Central Coast". Can't lump you in with San Jose can we? After all they only send the tourists.
So I retract my description in favor of the more accurate ""small local left wing California Central Coast newspaper."
So no other group does this to on-line polls? My guess is that it all evens out. But if they want a scientific result, then they should avoid these on-line entertainment polls. That's all they are.
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