How can political poll reporting be improved?
The House of Lords Political Polling and Digital Media Committee will next week take evidence from the Independent Press Standards Organisation, Sky News and the Elections Centre on reporting of political opinion polls.
The evidence session will start at 10:45am on Tuesday 31 October in Committee Room 2 of the House of Lords.
Giving evidence to the Committee will be:
- Matt Tee, Chief Executive, Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO)
Questions the witness will be asked include:
- How does the Editor's Code of Practice apply to the accuracy of poll reporting?
- How often does IPSO act on complaints regarding the reporting of political opinion polls?
- A significant section of our evidence suggests that the way polls are reported in the media is as significant a problem as methodology or electoral volatility— would new regulation or guidance around the reporting of polls might be beneficial for improving media reporting of polls?
- What are the difficulties associated with regulating the reporting of political content (including political opinion polls) that is shared across social media platforms?
- It has been suggested to the Committee that opinion polling conducted on behalf of advocacy groups on matters of public controversy are more susceptible to manipulation to produce results which fit a specific agenda, which are then reported on in the media— is this the case?
At 11.45am, giving evidence to the Committee will be:
- Jonathan Levy, Director of Newsgathering and Operations, Sky News
- Professor Michael Thrasher, Co-Director of the Elections Centre
Questions the witnesses will be asked include:
- Could political opinion polling play a different role in future election campaign coverage?
- The exit poll is an example of an expensive but high quality methodology, the costs of which are shared between broadcasters. It has been suggested that a similar pooling model might improve the accuracy of polling. Is this an approach worth considering? If no, why not?
- In the written evidence, it is stated that Sky News “modified” its policy on the reporting of political opinion polling during the 2017 General Election—what changes were made and what were the factors driving these changes?
