A critical analysis of Australian television coverage of election opinion polls

SUCCESSFUL opinion polling requires the active cooperation of the gen-eral public. This cooperation is likely, however, only if the polls are believed to provide accurate readings of public opinion. Failing this, there is little incentive for anyone to either participate in opinion surveys or provide them with honest and thoughtful information. Whether polls are accurate is the responsibility of the pollsters; whether they are per-ceived to be accurate is largely a function of their coverage in the news media. The link between polling and the press has been the focus of extensiv