Monday, August 31, 2009

Nate Silver And Fox Friends: Oil And Water

TW: You know we like Mr. Silver, the progressive yet accurate polling geek who managed to get 49 of the states right last November. He appeared on Fox and Friends last week with predictable results.

The thing is though, while what Nate said is correct, by saying it he likely ensures he will never appear again on that show perhaps any Fox show. He is not playing the game. A more cynical and popular pundit would have merely released an inane post on his blog advertising his appearance. By speaking the truth he will likely be shut out thereby sealing shut the echo chamber known as Fox a little more tightly.

From Nate Silver:
"This past Friday, I woke up at the crack of dawn to do an interview for Fox and Friends...it was one of the more aggravating experiences that I've had in my brief "career" in politics. The host misread his teleprompter (that's the generous interpretation), introducing me as someone who had correctly predicted "29 out of 50" states last November, and then recited a series of pre-spun questions, seeming flummoxed afterward that I hadn't agreed verbatim with his talking points and complaining aloud that the very smart conservative who was supposed to have been on the panel with me (a last-minute cancellation) hadn't been there (to "balance" me, I suppose).

Then as I was leaving the studio past a huge trailer serving Johnsonville Brats, they launched into a segment about Britney Spears and Alzhemier's. There was just no pretense of trying to do anything even vaguely resembling the news. I'm not reflexively anti-FOX; in fact, I'd had a couple of good experiences last year on Shepherd Smith and on their business channel. But as for their morning program: Wow. I've never met people more terrified of what might happen if they actually tried to engage in a rational discussion."

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