By: Karim Mostafa New Yorkers Respond To Giuliani's Marital Woes
An online poll was the subject of the front-page story of
Wednesday's New York Daily News. The NYDailyNews.com poll
asked readers for their opinions on the divorce battle between
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and First Lady Donna Hanover.
The story's headline, the latest of many in the ongoing marital
troubles of New York City's first couple, read, "News
Readers To Rudy: Don't Dis Donna!" Although the story
acknowledged that online news polls are unscientific, the New
York tabloid prominently ran the results to three questions asked
on NYDailyNews.com.
The first question, which got an overwhelming 87% of the audience
saying no, asked "Should Mayor Giuliani and his lawyer Raoul
Felder be attacking First Lady Donna Hanover?" Only 13% of the
1,966 poll participants said Felder's attacks over the past few
days were merited.
"Considering how wide the margins were, we're comfortable with
the results," said Ken Frydman, spokesman at the Daily
News. He said the online poll is usually posted online for 24
hours. "By design, it's a snapshot."
The other two questions asked of NYDailyNews.com users were:
"Should Donna move out [of the mayor's official residence]?" and
"Should Rudy move out?" According to readers, Donna gets the
house. Thirty-seven percent said that Donna should move out, with
63% replying that she shouldn't, while 44% favored Rudy's
departure from Gracie Mansion. Fifty-six percent said that the
mayor shouldn't move out.
Featuring even more from the site, the story drew heavily from
online forums for readers' opinions. One contributor was
identified as "piggy-needygrrl," who wrote, "I think Giuliani
should move in with Felder."
According to the Daily News, percentages were computed
from a large random tabulation of votes, not from total votes
cast.
Many journalists and statisticians object to the use of Web polls
in journalism. Opponents say these polls give the public false
impressions about how scientific polling is conducted.
Karim Mostafa (kmostafa@editorandpublisher.com) is associate editor for E&P Online.
Related story:
ONLINE POLLS PROLIFERATE, BUT CRITICS OBJECT (08/15/00)
Copyright 2001, Editor & Publisher.
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