Afstan: Poll shows strong support for Canadian mission
Why is this story in the Gulf Times and not front page on the Globe, Star etc.? And not the lead on CBC and CTV?
Support among Canadians for the country’s military mission in Afghanistan has slipped but is still relatively solid despite a rash of recent military casualties, according to a new poll yesterday. The Ekos survey shows 62% of Canadians support the mission in Afghanistan, down from 70% in early February. The number opposed grew to 37% from 28%.
Canada has 2,300 troops based in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar. Four soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb on April 22, bringing to 16 the number of Canadians who have died in Afghanistan since the September 11 attacks.–Reuters
I think the answer is obvious. For our media good news is bad news. I hope PM Harper reads the Gulf Times (or checks out Nealenews.com: Majority support Afghan mission: Poll.
Update: I e-mailed Colin MacKenzie, the Globe's Managing Editor, News, about this and received the following reply:
Ekos was in the field april 20 to 27. We were in the field may 11 and 12.The 'despite casualties' line in the yahoo hed is misleading at best.
To which I have just replied:
Thank you very much for taking the trouble to reply.
The Globe's story was published Saturday, May 6, and says the poll was conducted "on Wednesday and Thursday", i.e. May 3 and 4--not May 11 and 12 as you write.
The Reuters story notes that "Four soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb on April 22" and was conducted, as you point out, between April 20 and 27. Thus a good number of those polled would have been aware of the fatalities. The five and six days until people were polled for you might well have produced a decline in support. However your poll puts those opposed at 54% while Ekos--just few days earlier--puts them at 37%. That seems a very large gap--even allowing for applying the error range to the maximum towards opposition which would give a 51-40 gap.
It still seems to me that your news reporting has a strong tendency (and I know Christie Blatchford is an exception) to paint things in a negative light. At the very least the Reuters story might have produced one of your own trying to explain the exceptionally sharp apparent change in public opion in such a short period of time.
Mr MacKenzie has a point, but the flag and coffin return flaps were taking place during the latter part of the Ekos poll; I think my larger point still has merit. Reader comments welcome.
Cross-posted to Daimnation!
Support among Canadians for the country’s military mission in Afghanistan has slipped but is still relatively solid despite a rash of recent military casualties, according to a new poll yesterday. The Ekos survey shows 62% of Canadians support the mission in Afghanistan, down from 70% in early February. The number opposed grew to 37% from 28%.
Canada has 2,300 troops based in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar. Four soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb on April 22, bringing to 16 the number of Canadians who have died in Afghanistan since the September 11 attacks.–Reuters
I think the answer is obvious. For our media good news is bad news. I hope PM Harper reads the Gulf Times (or checks out Nealenews.com: Majority support Afghan mission: Poll.
Update: I e-mailed Colin MacKenzie, the Globe's Managing Editor, News, about this and received the following reply:
Ekos was in the field april 20 to 27. We were in the field may 11 and 12.The 'despite casualties' line in the yahoo hed is misleading at best.
To which I have just replied:
Thank you very much for taking the trouble to reply.
The Globe's story was published Saturday, May 6, and says the poll was conducted "on Wednesday and Thursday", i.e. May 3 and 4--not May 11 and 12 as you write.
The Reuters story notes that "Four soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb on April 22" and was conducted, as you point out, between April 20 and 27. Thus a good number of those polled would have been aware of the fatalities. The five and six days until people were polled for you might well have produced a decline in support. However your poll puts those opposed at 54% while Ekos--just few days earlier--puts them at 37%. That seems a very large gap--even allowing for applying the error range to the maximum towards opposition which would give a 51-40 gap.
It still seems to me that your news reporting has a strong tendency (and I know Christie Blatchford is an exception) to paint things in a negative light. At the very least the Reuters story might have produced one of your own trying to explain the exceptionally sharp apparent change in public opion in such a short period of time.
Mr MacKenzie has a point, but the flag and coffin return flaps were taking place during the latter part of the Ekos poll; I think my larger point still has merit. Reader comments welcome.
Cross-posted to Daimnation!
posted by Mark, Ottawa at 9:41 a.m.
1 Comments:
I hope PM Harper reads the Gulf Times
Why? I thought Harper didn't listen to the people...er, I mean polls.
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