Newpaper Passes Off Code Pink Members As “Independents” In A Focus Group

by John Hawkins | September 9, 2008 7:58 am

It’s always a good idea to take focus group data with a grain of salt. Heck, for that matter, it’s a good idea to take pretty much everything said by the mainstream media about politics with a grain of salt. Here’s just one more reason[1] why that’s the case,

A Detroit Free Press editor expressed regret Monday that left-wing and anti-war activists were included in a focus group of so-called independent voters the newspaper interviewed during the political conventions, but said he didn’t see the harm in having a “radical leftist or two” in the group.

In response to questions posed to the would-be independent panel, two members of the anti-war group CodePink — as well as two other liberal activists — offered praise of Barack Obama after his Democratic presidential nomination acceptance speech. A week later they turned the tables and ripped into Republican Sarah Palin’s vice presidential nomination acceptance speech. Their comments appeared online and were excerpted in the Free Press’ print edition.

“I wish that it weren’t the case that there were two people from an activist group and we didn’t know about it,” assistant managing editor Randy Essex said of the CodePink members.

Nonetheless, Essex defended the panel’s results.

“If there is a radical leftist or two in the group, I don’t care,” Essex told FOXNews.com. “I want a robust conversation, a complete range of political viewpoints.”

The four activists were part of a group of seven self-described “independents.” Nine Republicans and 11 Democrats were also on the panel.

…Essex said the Free Press will continue to refine the voter panel, but he added, “I don’t think it’s wildly out of balance now.”

Asked if a correction would be published, Essex said not until he found evidence that the CodePink members were not political independents. He noted that political independents can have agendas just like members of either political party.

So, they’ve been caught passing off 4 liberal activists — including 2 members of Code Pink — as independents and they’re defending it and saying it’s not “wildly out of balance.”

Meanwhile, members of the mainstream press seem to be puzzled as to why the American public doesn’t trust them, even as they treat any complaints about their incredibly obvious liberal bias with disdain.

It’s exactly this sort of liberal hackery masquerading as “unbiased, call it right down-the-middle” press coverage that explains why conservative talk radio and the Rightroots exist. If these clowns actually did their jobs, most of us in the new media would have moved on to different lines of work years ago.