‘Sweeping Conclusions’: Media Coverage Of Narrow Hong Loss Faulted
Corporate media is framing the Wisconsin vote in ways that aren’t accurate
Journalists and others are criticizing much of the media coverage and analysis of democratic socialist Francesca Hong’s incredibly narrow loss in the Wisconsin Democratic primary election for governor.
Too many stories in corporate media and analysts by many establishment commentators are drawing sweeping conclusions from an election decided by fewer than 5,000 votes out of more than 600,000 cast statewide.
Hong, a democratic socialist, was vying for the Democratic nomination for governor of Wisconsin. The race attracted national attention as a number of other democratic socialists won primaries in their races nationwide, most recently Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed in neighboring Michigan.
She fell, however, to Democratic rival David Crowley in a race that was only decided in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Hong’s defeat has prompted an outpouring from corporate media — including The New York Times — and a variety of political commentators.
A number of critics cited a particular headline that appeared in The Times: “A Stunning Loss in Wisconsin Shows the Limits of the Left.”
A subhead tried to suggest that Hong’s defeat demonstrated that this year’s “democratic socialist wave cannot reach beyond urban centers.”
“The first law of American politics is that pundits will draw sweeping conclusions from a single, narrowly decided result,” Harvard University social scientist Ryan Enos wrote Wednesday in a social media post. “A race decided by less than 0.5 percent of votes cast: had it gone the other direction, the headlines would be about the unstoppable force of progressive candidates.
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Enos continued: “Such over-interpretation is not without consequence. It probably contributed to the misattribution of an ideological change underscoring [Donald] Trump’s narrow 2024 victory that caused weak opposition to his authoritarian push.”
Josh Sternberg, executive editor at the news site Morning Brew, took issue with the way that the headline frames the story.
“A reminder that the media is not liberal or objective. Notice the editorialization in the headline and deck. Why is it ‘stunning’? etc,” he posted. “This is both agenda setting and manufactured confrontation, designed, over time, to make readers think a certain way.
“Also never see ‘limits of the Right’ frames” in corporate media, Sternberg added.
Sternberg also criticized reporting by the Wall Street Journal.
He posted an excerpt of a WSJ story, with the comment: “WSJ ping-pongs between ‘dealing a significant blow’ and ‘an intraparty fight among Democrats is far from over.’
“What is ‘significant’ here? We don’t know!” he added.
Others criticized the conclusion that Hong’s appeal was limited to Wisconsin cities.
“Crowley won the rurals by only 4 points I feel like this story was written before the election even happened!!!” posted freelance journalist Sydney Bauer.
“Hong won Madison by less than expected! And kept it close in Milwaukee!!! How any pundit can draw these conclusions in a race decided by 2,000 votes is insane!!!” Bauer added.
The coverage of Hong’s loss also appeared to try to obscure a larger picture for progressives Tuesday, particularly Peggy Flanagan’s victory in the Democratic primary for US Senate in neighboring Minnesota, according to talk radio host Dean Obeidallah.
“Corporate media and Corporate Dems are pointing at Francesca Hong losing in Wisconsin by less than .5% as rebuke for progressives. They are trying to ignore progressive Peggy Flanagan won big Minnesota Dem Senate nomination 59 to 34% over Rep Angie Craig-- a centrist who had 4 to 1 $ edge in ads,” Obeidallah posted.
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