Friday, January 27, 2012

We Blew It!

We blew it!
In a recent article commenting on the President’s State of the Union address, we cited a new CBSNEWS poll that said 91% of those polled approved of the policies outlined in the President’s speech.  That number is incorrect.
Inexplicably, in their analysis of the President’s 2012 remarks; CBSNEWS included polling data taken after his 2011 address.  The particular article on the polling data was among several stories reporting on the President’s 2012 speech.  It was clearly dated January 2011.  We missed it; as did the dozens national news outlets that we use to fact check data.  As of this date none of those other outlets have corrected their reporting.
It should be noted that several national and state polls have confirmed that the policies outlined in the President’s remarks received high approval ratings from a vast majority of those who responded.  The Christian Science Monitor conducted a poll in the key swing state of Ohio; a state which has felt the full brunt of the economic downturn.  79% of those polled approved of the President’s ideas; up from 39% in a poll taken prior to the speech.   Elizabeth Jacobs, a political analyst for the highly regarded and bi-partisan Brookings Institute confirmed that the policies outlined in the President’s SOTU address: “received high approval ratings across the political divide.”
We stand by all of the other reporting in our piece.
We pride ourselves in the fact that everything we report in this space has been thoroughly and obsessively fact checked for accuracy.  We continue to operate under the old adage that: “everyone is entitled to their own opinions; but not entitled their own facts.  The facts are the facts.
We blew it.  We apologize.  And we will work hard to make certain that it doesn’t happen again. 

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