Wednesday, November 09, 2016

Free Press falsely declared Clinton victory in Michigan before dumping story

Free Press falsely declared Clinton victory in Michigan before dumping story
"The Detroit Free Press stunned the country and pollsters when it called the election for Hillary Clinton in Michigan at 9:15 p.m., long before most votes were counted.
About two hours later, Michigan’s largest newspaper removed the story and replaced it with a headline that read, “National race too close to call: All eyes on Michigan.”
No correction. Just brief, unsatisfactory explanation.
Turned out, the Free Press was wrong – or at least very premature. At 2:30 a.m., news agencies slowly began to report that Trump won Michigan. But as of 7 a.m., the Free Press was not among them, saying the race was too close to call.
“Congratulations!! You just set your credibility back 100 years,” @thechovanone tweeted to the Free Press. It was one of dozens of tweets criticizing the newspaper.
So how did the Free Press have a “Dewey defeats Truman” moment?

The newspaper used a mathematical model based on the results of 80 precincts – a system that had worked in the past. Workers went to each of the 80 precincts and phoned back the results, which showed Clinton won the model..."

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