A Critical Analysis of Australian Television Coverage of Election Opinion Polls

Abstract

Much recent attention has focused on the nature and possible effects of media coverage of opinion polls. Accordingly, this article reports the results of a detailed critical analysis of Victorian television news coverage of election opinion polls during the 1980 Australian federal election campaign. Five aspects of the coverage were analyzed: its extent, focus, completeness, accuracy, and critical balance. The results of the study indicate that the coverage was seriously, perhaps irredeemably, flawed