Sunday, April 22, 2007

Funny Poll

Online polls are suspect at the best of times, but this Sun Media poll is particularly amusing:

If a provincial election were held today, which party would you support?

Conservatives 60%
Greens 5%
Liberals 18%
NDP 6%
Not sure 10%

What do we learn from the above poll of Ontario voters? We learn, that yes, Sun Media is essentially a Conservative propaganda rag, that draws the right-wing reader like flies.

22 comments:

Karen said...

Precisely. It's worrisome though isn't it, how this group has purchased so much of our media?

I'll refer to an article from time to time, but the fact that people buy it, with actual money? A bit frightening.

Anonymous said...

could be worse they could be buying the Toronto Star.

Steve V said...

Knb, it is worrisome, because unlike the Toronto Star, Sun Media wears its lack of objectivity on its sleeve. At least with the Toronto Star, there is some balance, as evidenced by the January onslaught of anti-liberal stories and editorials.

Steve V said...

joe

If you looking for a good, sift through the bullshit commentary, I suggest Susan Delacourt :)

Tomm said...

Steve,

The Toronto Star is not a balanced publication. At least not for us in the western side of this nation.

If you're going to talk this way, than warn your western readers so they can be prepared for the spin.

I do not know of any journalists on the Star that balance the heavy left side of the paper. The closest they have is Hebert, and she just says it as she sees it.

Is "unbiased" as right as the Star gets? What about the other 20 writers?

Just because they slagged the LPC, doesn't make them "balanced". It just measn that the LPC is worthy of public criticism, even from its friends.

Tomm

Steve V said...

The Toronto Star has a slant, I admit that, but it still has journalistic integrity. Sun Media on the other hand is embarrassing Tory cheerleading, which is basically a joke. People read it for the sports, and if they take it as a serious newsource, god help us- it's a rag!

Tomm, I lived out "west" on more than one occasion, so enough with eastern vs westerner crap please. It's such a tin man that people like you eat up, because it gives you something to rally around. As a matter of fact, the narrow tribalism, having the us vs them mentality is the only thing that makes Alberta unique. If it wasn't for Toronto, you'd have NO identity. Joined together through a common pinuata, it was so boring, so stupid and just intellectually BORING.

Oxford County Liberals said...

The SunMedia corporation is the Canadian equivalent of Fox News, except the Sun doesnt try to fool anyone into thinking its "fair and balanced". They are unabashedly biased and proud of it.

Steve V said...

scott

Bingo! They wear their bias like a badge of honor, it's a cause.

Tomm said...

Steve,

You are absolutely correct I am from Alberta, although I am not there now.

However, I'm not pushing tribalism, I was commenting on YOUR tribalism.

Yes people NOT from Toronto make fun of Toronto. Surprise surprise. My tax dollars are bombarding me with Toronto based media every day, all day.

Why am I paying Gill Deacon's salary??? I even know that the mayor of Toronto recently tore up his NDP Party card. Do you even know the name of one mayor west of the Ontario border? Give your GTA world view a rest and remember that most Canadian's live elsewhere, and we are tired of Torontocentric viewpoints. I'm sure even people from rural Ontario are tired of it.

In regards to the Sun chain being right wing. Its blue collar, not right wing. Blue collar people like their politics straight up and without the umbrella. The "nuanced" positions of the LPC gag the average blue collar worker.

I think you will find that white collar workers in Alberta read the Globe, the Post, the Journal and the Herald.

I hope that is helpful.

Tomm

Woman at Mile 0 said...

No Tomm..its right wing...definitely right wing. There are enough "we kiss harpers butt" stories to choke a horse.

Gayle said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Gayle said...

"In regards to the Sun chain being right wing. Its blue collar, not right wing. Blue collar people like their politics straight up and without the umbrella. The "nuanced" positions of the LPC gag the average blue collar worker.

I think you will find that white collar workers in Alberta read the Globe, the Post, the Journal and the Herald."

Let me see, I am from a blue collar background, with a white collar job, a blue collar husband and white collared colleagues.

In my experience, most people who read the Sun are well aware that it is right wing. Most people recognize the bias, whether or not they agree with it.

I know people of all coloured collars who read both the Sun and the Journal. They do not choose their paper for its politics - most of them choose it for the Sports and the Arts and Entertainment.

And Steve, I like you, but as an Albertan I find this insulting:

"the narrow tribalism, having the us vs them mentality is the only thing that makes Alberta unique. If it wasn't for Toronto, you'd have NO identity. Joined together through a common pinuata, it was so boring, so stupid and just intellectually BORING."

I wonder why you felt it was necessary to say something so very insulting.

In the post I deleted I listed all these great things about Edmonton, but I decided they were not necessary. I think you get my drift. I do not believe Alberta should be pointing fingers at other regions and insulting them, and I do not believe other regions should do the same to us.


That said, the Oilers and the Eskies are still the best, notwithstanding their last seasons.

Steve V said...

gayle

I'm sorry you found that insulting, but my experience in Alberta showed me that people were 99.9% the same as "easterners", which made the whole uniqueness thing mostly concoction, exploited by politicans to score cheap points. We're all the same, but we seem to spend all our time trying to define US.

tomm

"Toronto based media"

Every country has a hub, someone has to be it. And spare me the GTA world view nonsense, I'm willing to bet I've seen and lived in a hell of a lot more of this country than you.

Steve V said...

Just to clarify, every region does have a certain character, but I get frustrated when we seem to spend all our energy on divisions, instead of focusing on what binds us.

Tomm, I've never lived in the GTA my entire life, as a matter of fact, while walking my dog this morning, the air was pungent with manure, in preparation for seeding :)

James Bender said...

Sun Media for certain...wow, to think they would even want to publish such bullshit is not too surprising.
Tory is in for a ride, right back from where he came.
The guy makes me cringe when I hear him talk. The whining, wheedling nasally depressing droning of John....ughhhh!

Anonymous said...

There was a study a few years ago on the type of people that read certain newspapers.

The Globe - professional, intelligent types.

The Star - similar

National Post - financial types.

The Sun - people who like sensationalism and don't bother to look into any real detail of an issue and who are not so intelligent or professional types. People that like pumped up murder stories, sex stories, etc.

Gayle said...

Steve - I was probably being hyper sensitive (we Albertans are like that :)).

Ti-Guy said...

In regards to the Sun chain being right wing. Its blue collar, not right wing. Blue collar people like their politics straight up and without the umbrella.

Tomm, where I'm from, people don't assume "blue collar" means unsophisticated. I guess where you live, it's different.

This is the myth media of the Sun type tries to push on its audience to keep them bying their crap: that their choices are more authentic, more honest than anyone else's. Hopefully, with that propaganda, people won't realise that when they read a Sun paper, they aren't actually being informed.

Anonymous said...

Tomm, get a grip. CanWest (includes all papers owned by it in B.C.), Sun Media, Western Standard (if you call that a paper), National Post are all "conservative" papers. The Globe is a mix and the Star tends toward liberal, but not always an easy ride.

Hardly liberal bias in Canada.

Liberal bias is just what Harper wants people to believe. Why would anyone let Harper lie to them this way? Dumb.

Scotian said...

Tomm:

It is that you buy into things like the Liberal media bias to the extent that you do is why I won't debate with you. While I grant you reason far better than most of your CPC supporting brethren online when the underlying assumptions and premises are faulty than your conclusions will automatically be so as well. You have shown yet again in this thread that while you are far more civil and reasonable than most of your fellow CPC supporters online you are no better informed. Remember the old computer motto GIGO (Garbage In Garbage Out)? That is where you run into problems with the rest of the reality based community including myself.

General:

I take it these numbers do not reflect the same found in other polls; otherwise I would have thought I would have heard about it by now. These numbers seem really questionable, even for a clearly CPC leaning publication to put out. Is the Sun really *THAT* much like FOXNEWS when it comes to factual accuracy and any care for such?

Anonymous said...

Of course, the Toronto Sun's online poll is not supposed to be an accurate representation of public support of parties accross the country [which I am sure everyone here understands as well], but it is interesting to see what are the party support patterns of Toronto Sun readers, or at least the folks who visit their website.

Not terribly surprising, although I would not have thought that 6% of their readers are New Democrats. =)

Steve V said...

gayle

I understand your reaction, I should probably flesh it out more, instead of blanket statements :)