The Numbers
A Run at the Latest Data from ABC's Poobah of Polling, Gary Langer
Gary Langer is director of polling at ABC News, where he's covered the beat of public opinion for nearly 20 years - conducting and analyzing ABC News polls, evaluating data from other sources and setting the news division's standards for poll reporting. Langer is a two-time Emmy award winner, both for ABC's reporting of public opinion polls in Iraq.
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Requiem for a Poll
December 19, 2008 11:10 AM
This note marks the passing of a fallen comrade: The Los Angeles Times Poll, dead at age 31.
The Times' last survey, done in conjunction with its recent partner, Bloomberg News, was released nine days ago. Cleanup’s followed, and today is the final day for the polling staff, including the paper’s polling director, Susan Pinkus, and associate director, Jill Darling.
That closing poll was typical: First-rate methodology, a thoughtful 51-item questionnaire and a detailed six-page analysis. Focused, fittingly, on the economy, it found the number of Americans who feel financially secure at its lowest since the poll started asking the question 17 years ago.
The L.A. Times Poll was created in 1977 – two years before our own polling started here at ABC News – by the legendary public opinion researcher Irwin A. “Bud” Lewis, then a vice president at the Roper Organization. When The Associated Press assigned me to run its small polling operation in 1986 I set out to learn from the best; that led quickly to a long lunch with Bud at the American Cafe in Rockefeller Center, where he patiently drew bell curves on napkins while a parade of martinis crossed the table. He spent a lot of time with a young reporter, because he wanted me to get it right.
There’s another personal connection: After his death in 1990 Bud was succeeded by John Brennan, then No. 2 in the Polling Unit here at ABC; I took John’s job. When John died too young, at 41 in 1995, Susan moved up and has guided the L.A. Times Poll since, from the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal through 9/11, the Iraq war and finally the 2008 election.
It’s remained a vital poll throughout; just last year the L.A. Times won the “Excellence in Media Coverage of Polls” award from the National Council on Public Polls for a survey of 12- to 24-year-olds about their use of entertainment and technology. The award noted “that the Los Angeles Times entry illustrated how news stories may be enriched and common myths debunked with the incorporation of public opinion research.”
I’ll leave the cause of death to forensic experts. Clearly newspapers are in challenging times, struggling to reconcile the costs of reporting essential news with upheaval in the distribution of that content. What I do know is that good reporting is necessary to our democracy, and that good polling is good reporting.
Reliable, honest, independent, professional news and analysis are as important now as they’ve always been. Specific to polling, we live in a time of too-often shoddy methodology and manufactured data. In that murk, the Times poll has been a beacon.
Does the loss of a single polling outfit matter? If it’s a good one, sure it does. Even when well done, a single poll often is insufficient to illuminate public opinion fully; like a flashlight on a dark road, it takes a bunch of them, shining in the same direction, to show the way. Without the L.A. Times Poll, our path forward will be a little less well-lighted.
December 19, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (7)
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What Gary said. Susan Pinkus and John Brennan, like the LA Times poll founder, Bud Lewis, cared about the wording of questions. Ask a dumb question, you get a dump answer. These guys rarely did. The consistently high quality of the questions asked separated the LA Times poll from lots and lots of schlocky public polls, and this polling operation will be missed.
Posted by: Thomas Riehle | Dec 19, 2008 2:52:11 PM
If memory serves, Bud call in Harvard's Dr. Bill Schneider to help with the design of the first LA Times poll. That began a series of events that took Bill to his present eminence as the on-camera poll analyst for CNN.
Posted by: Phil Meyer | Dec 19, 2008 4:33:20 PM
What a shame! The LA Times has rapidly become a second rate publication. Job well done Susan Pincus and Jill Darling.
We appreciate what you have accomplished for years. Thank you!
Posted by: Hal Kassarjian | Dec 19, 2008 10:35:33 PM
Dear Friends...
as a follow traveler in your adventures, once removed...I salute the people of the LA Times Poll...
a classy operation against which all will be measured.
Adios
Posted by: Nancy Richardson | Dec 21, 2008 8:02:28 PM
I had the distinct honor and pleasure of working with Jill, Susan, John, and even Bud briefly years ago when I was a statistical analyst with the LAT. Their professionalism was unparalleled. They had both an impeccable focus on solid methodology and a a real dedication to asking meaningful questions.
The disbanding of the Poll is a real heartbreak.
Good luck to you all.
Posted by: Maureen Lyons | Dec 22, 2008 1:24:07 PM
One name has omitted from those whose high calibre skills made the Times Poll a leader in its field - the Field Director, Roger Richardson. His enforced 'retirement' last year saw the beginning of the end of the Poll as it once was.
A remarkable team - Pinkus, Darling & Richardson. I echo those comments above - a sad loss and a diminished newspaper.
Posted by: Adrienne Hasler | Dec 24, 2008 11:09:11 AM
Interesting...a well respected poll that couldn't get it close to right to who their target market was and why it has come down to why the LA Times is doomed to fail and lock its door. Its demographics were: over 40, white, middle class, and conservative. What type of reporters, columnists, and editors did they employ. 95% plus were liberal democrats with a new age agenda. Goodbye Times. We have deserted you for good reason...even though you couldn't figure it out.
Posted by: roger king | Jan 7, 2009 10:05:11 PM
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