Tim Russert Censured by Polling Watchdog Organization
NCPP exposes another way Tim Russert lies to America
by David J. Gonzo

Saturday, Sept. 23, 2000 -- NEW YORK (AmpolNS) -- The National Council on Public Polls has gone public with a scathing censure of Tim Russert. 

A press release posted to their web site reads in part:

In the apparent effort to make news on Meet the Press on Sunday, September 10th, the moderator, Tim Russert, reported the results of the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal Poll. "The poll is three-fourths of the way done, but we thought we'd share the results now." The poll showed Gore leading Bush by 44 to 43 percent.

We think this is not an appropriate way to use a poll. A poll is not like a football game where there is a score at the end of the third quarter.

The NCPP certainly picked an apt comparison, since Russert seems more obsessed with his beloved Buffalo Bills than a fair discussion and analysis of politics or issues. A little further into the press release, the NCPP provides specific reasons that an incomplete poll is worthless:

The one-quarter not reached were the people who are more difficult to reach on the first call. These people usually are disproportionately younger, include more working people, particularly those who travel or work odd hours, and others who spend less time at home. The final result of that NBC/WSJ Poll, once the whole sample was interviewed, showed Gore with a 3 point lead.

Do the math: the remaining one-fourth would have to favor Gore over Bush by between seven and eleven percent.

Certainly Russert, with his sizable staff, political connections,  and knowledge of polls and polling, might have had at least an inkling that the complete poll would favor Gore by a wider margin than the incomplete numbers would lead the average Meet the Press viewer to assume. A fair and disinterested moderator of a political show would know better than to pass on incomplete polling data.

But about the last thing on Russert's mind is fairness. Russert has never missed a trick when it comes to attacking the Clinton family -- usually by figuratively reaching into President Clinton's trousers, even in the middle of a political debate -- and more recently Al Gore -- witness his mischaracterizing the event Gore attended along with elected Republicans at the Hsi Lai Temple as a "fundraiser," which it was clearly not.

The fact that this very public castigation of Russert -- from an organization respected and supported by a wide variety of organizations and corporations and political professionals from both -- has even shown up on the media radar (there was mention in this morning's Washington Post) will certainly garner the attention of the powers-that-be at NBC and their corporate overlords at GE.

And given Russert's years of unfair reporting, punditry and "immoderation" of Meet the Press, the only solution to the current situation -- one which questions the fundamental credibility of Meet the Press -- is for NBC to dismiss Russert.

I'm not holding my breath, though.